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The 

SHANTUNG QUESTION 

A STATEMENT OF CHINA'S 
CLAIM TOGETHER WITH 
IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS 
SUBMITTED TO THE PEACE 
CONFERENCE IN PARIS 




Chinese National Welfare Society 
in America 

AUGUST 1, 19 19 
PRICE $1.00 



REPRINTED BT 

CHINESE NATIONAL WELFARE SOCIETY 

IN AMERICA 

308 CLUNIE BUILDING 
519 CALIFORNIA ST. SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 



PcLAAyo, Pjlo^- f^Lauy^'^jlIKi: 



IV 



The 

SHANTUNG QUESTION 

A STATEMENT OF CHINA'S 
CLAIM TOGETHER WITH 
IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS 
SUBMITTED TO THE PEACE 
CONFERENCE IN PARIS 



\y\yv\c^ 




Chinese National Welfare Society 
in America 

AU GUST 1, 19 19 



Gift 
Society 

SEP ^3 1919 









INTRODUCTORY. 

By the Treaty of Paris Japan has been awarded territory 
in the Chinese Province of Shantung, together with economic 
and strategic rights and privileges of such importance as to 
practically deliver China over to the mercy of Japan. 

If this award is to stand, it will give to Japan a domina- 
tion in China which is tantamount to a subjugation of the Free 
Republic of China to the militaristic Empire of Japan, and it 
will confirm the old, barbarous principle expressed by the phrase, 
"Mio-ht is rio-ht." 



Ij^XlL iO H^J 



China appeals to the American people not to confirm this 
award but to insist to have the Peace Treaty modified so that 
the so-called Shantung question shall be reserved for future 
deliberation and action, and it feels free to make this appeal 
as it asks for nothing but what fair play and justice would 
recognize. 

Japan has based her claim to Shantung on the secret treaties 
of 1915. In order to lay before the American people all the true 
facts, these secret treaties extorted by Japan from a feeble Gov- 
ernment under threat of war, as well as the so-called twenty- 
one demands of Japan on China, Japan's ultimatum, and impor- 
tant documents in connection with the question, used at the 
Peace Conference at Paris, are herewith submitted to a candid 
examination, with the serene confidence that the American peo- 
ple will uphold China's protest and -prevent the taking of its 
territory by Japan. 

Respectfully submitted. 
By Chinese National Welfare Societv. 



PART ONE. 
"FIRST INSTRUCTIONS" TO MR. HIOKI. 



1. On December 3, lOll, the Japanese Minister at Peking, 
Mr. Hioki, was handed at Tokyo the text of the Twenty-One 
Demands for presentation to the Chinese Government. They 
were divided into five Groups. 

In the "First Instructions given by Baron Kato [then 
Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs] to Mr. Hioki" — which 
were officially published at Tokyo on June 9, 1915 (see App. 1) 
— Mr. Hioki was informed that "In order to provide for the 
readjustment of affairs consequent on the Japan-German war 
and for the purpose of ensuring a lasting peace in the Far East 
BY STRENGTHENING THE POSITION OF THE [JAP- 
ANESE] EMPIRE, the Imperial Government have resolved to 
approach the Chinese Government with a view to conclude 
treaties and agreements mainly along the lines laid down in the 
first four Groups of the appended proposals [i. e., the Twenty- 
One Demands] Believing it absolutely essential, FOR 

STRENGTHENING JAPAN'S POSITION IN EASTERN 
ASIA as well as for the preservation of the general interest of 
that region, to secure China's adherence to the foregoing pro- 
posals, the IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT ARE DETER- 
MINED TO ATTAIN THIS END BY ALL MEANS 
WITHIN THEIR POWER. You are, therefore, requested to 
use your best endeavour in the conduct of the negotiations, 
which are hereby placed in your hands" (large type added). 

"As regards the proposals contained in the fifth Group," 
Mr. Hioki was informed that they were to be "presented as the 
wishes of the Imperial Government" but "you are also re- 
quested to exercise your best efforts to have our wishes carried 
out." 

It is important, however, to state that the proposals in this 
fifth Group were presented to the Chinese Government as de- 
mands and not as "wishes." 



Japan's War Aim. 

2. Attention is directed here to these "First Instructions" 
to Mr. Hioki because, studied in connection with other indica- 
tions of Japanese policy in China, they point reasonably to the 
inference that Japan's dominant aim in the war against the 
Central Powers was the "strengthening of Japan's position in 
Eastern Asia" and the Japanese Government were "determined 
to attain this end by all means within their power." 

3. This reference to Japan's war-aim is made because it 
appears desirable to place all the facts before the Peace Con- 
ference in order that a correct decision may be rendered, inter 
alia, on the pending claim of the Japanese Government for "the 
unconditional cession of the leased territory of Kiaochow to- 
gether with the railways and other rights possessed by Germany 
in respect of Shantung province." 

If the real object for which Japan entered the war was 
less the destruction of German imperialism than the creation of 
a situation enabling her to strengthen her own "position in 
Eastern Asia by all means within her power," it is legitimate for 
China — as the one of the Allied and Associated States that 
would sufifer in the event of the success of the Japanese claim — 
to urge the rejection of this claim on the ground that Japan 
entered the war and envisaged its end in a sense at variance 
with the principles for which the Entente Allies and America 
have fought and conquered. 

Presentation of the Twenty-One Demands. 

4. Six w^eeks had elapsed from the date of the "First 
Instructions" when it was decided that a suitable opportunity 
had occurred for the presentation of the Twenty-One Demands. 
This took place on January 18, 1915, following swiftly on the 
communication of a note from the Chinese Minister for Foreign 
Affairs in reply to a despatch from Mr. Hioki. The latter had 
written to state that the Japanese Government would not recog- 
nize the cancellation of the special military zone which the 
Chinese Government had delimited in connection with the opera- 



6 

tions of the Japanese forces besieging- the small German garri- 
son at Tsingtao within the leased territory of Kiaochow. 

5. This note from the Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs 
is the last of a series of six notes =^ passing between him and 
Mr. Hioki. These notes dealt not only with the special military 
zone but with the protest of the Chinese Government against 
the forcible and unnecessary seizure by the Japanese of the 
trans-Shantung railway, which dominates the province of 
Shantung. 

The whole of this series of notes is important because they 
connect the Twenty-One Demands with the situation created in 
Shantung by the Japanese military authorities in their operations 
for the reduction of the German "fortress" of Tsingtao. 

This fortress was garrisoned by 5250 German and Austrian 
regulars and reservists hastily assembled. Under the plea of 
military necessity the Japanese forces entered Chinese territory 
150 miles to the rear of the "stronghold." In the land opera- 
tions ensuing, the Japanese had a total of 12 officers killed and 
40 wounded and 324 rank and file killed and 1148 wounded. In 
the naval operations, one small cruiser was sunk by a mine and 
280 of the crew perished. In addition to this disaster the Navy 
had 40 men killed and wounded. 

These figures are given not in any way to detract from the 
merit of Japan's principal military achievement during the war 
but only to indicate what operations were actually involved in 
the fall of the fortress. 

6. The note from the Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs 
points out that two months have "elapsed since the capture of 
Tsingtao ; the basis of German military preparations has been 
destroyed: the troops of Great Britain have already been and 
those of your country are being gradually withdrawn. This 
shows clearly that there is no more military action in the special 
area, and that the said area ought to be cancelled admits of no 

doubt As efforts have always been made to effect an 

amicable settlement of affairs between your country and ours, 

*• These notes are included in the Appendices to the Memorandum 
relating to Kiaochow, filed by the Chinese Delegation, and numbered VI, 
VII, VIII, IX, X and XI. 



it is our earnest hope that your Government will act upor the 
principle of preserving peace in the Far East and maintaining 
international confidence and friendship." 

7. Within 36 hours of the expression of this earnest hope 
of the Chinese Government, Mr. Hioki presented to the President 
of the Chinese Republic a series of demands which the Gov- 
ernment and People of China viewed as an act of the same 
order of policy as the Austrian ultimatum to Serbia that had 
plunged Europe into war just 24 weeks before. 

PART TWO. 
ANALYSIS OF THE TWENTY-ONE DEMANDS. 



8. An examination of these Twenty-One Demands shows 
that their ruling purpose was to impose on China settlement not 
unlike in principle to the one imposed on Korea during the short 
period preceding the extinction of Korean independence. 

Group I. 

9. Group I deals with the province of Shantung, which is 
greater in area and in population than the whole of England, 
besides being a piece of China packed with memories of Con- 
fucius and hallowed as the cradle of Chinese culture. 

10. The first demand in this Group insists on the Chinese 
Government engaging to "give full assent to all matters upon 
which the Japanese Government may hereafter agree with the 
German Government relating to the disposition of all rights, 
interests and concessions which Germany, by virtue of treaties 
or otherwise, possesses in relation to the Province of Shan- 
tung." 

At the date of the Twenty-One Demands, the ''rights, 
interests and concessions" of Germany in Shantung included the 
leased territory of Kiaochow with the harbour of Tsingtao, the 
trans-Shantung railway known as the Tsingtao-Chinan railway 
or Kiaochow-Tsinanfu railway, and other railway as well as 
mining rights in the province, 



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10 

They were the fruits of 16 years of Gerriian aggression in 
Shantung province. And their transfer to Japan means that the 
Teutonic methods, which enabled Germany to dominate and 
exploit the province, will pass into the hands of a Power with 
a great military base already standing on Chinese soil at Port 
Arthur. 

Railway Domination of North China. 

11. The meaning of this Japanese succession to German 
rights in Shantung is best illustrated in the railway situation 
arising out of Japan's exercise of two of the ''other railway 
rights" that were vested in Germany. 

Although Japan's claim now before the Peace Conference, 
in so far as it relates to China, is confined to the "railways and 
other rights possessed by Germany in respect of Shantung 
province," she has pressed "^ on China the acceptance of the 
view that her first demand in Group I — which is substantially 
repeated in her Conference claim — covers the German rights to 
finance, construct and supply the materials for two lines of rail- 
way running into the two other provinces of Kiangsu and 
Chihli, though starting in Shantung. 

If the Peace Conference concede this Japanese claim, the 
following formidable situation will be created. Through the 
trans-Shantung railway, with its western or inland terminus at 
the provincial capital of Chinanfu where it flanks the northern 
section of the Tientsin-Pukow railway — built by the Germans — 
Japan will at once dominate the whole of Shantung as well as 
the northern half of this important trunk line. Then, by financ- 
ing, constructing and supplying the materials for the first of the 
aforesaid "two lines of railway" — i. e., a line from the city of 
Kaomi, on the trans-Shantung railway, to a point strategically 
dominating the southern or British constructed section of the 
same Tientsin-Pukow railway — Japan will practically master the 
great railroad linking Tientsin (the port of Peking) and North 
China with the Yangtze Valley and South China. 

Next, by financing, etc., the second of the "two lines of 
railway" — i. e., a line practically extending the trans-Shantung 

* In a set of secret agreement and notes concluded on September 
24, 1918. 



11 

railway from Chinanfu, where it will bisect the Tientsin-Pukow 
trunk line, to a point westward on the Peking-Hankow railway 
— Japan will flank the other of the two trunk lines connecting 
Peking and North China with Central and Southern China. ^"^ 

And when it is borne in mind that Japan also controls the 
railway systems in South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mon- 
golia, the extent of Japan's railway domination of China north 
of the great line of the Yangtze will be realized. 

This fact also must be noted. It means the isolation of 
Peking, which will be cut off from Central and Southern China 
not only by land but by the sea-route, owing to the Gulf of 
Pechihli — through which Peking can be reached via its port of 
Tientsin — being directly dominated by the Japanese at Port 
Arthur. 

The "Strategic Rear" of Weihaiwei. 

12. It is further interesting to note the connection between 
the third demand in Group I with this strategic situation based 
on Japan's contemplated railway domination in Northern China. 
The demand requires "the Chinese Government to agree to 
Japan's building a railway connecting Chefoo or Lungkow" with 
the trans-Shantung railway. 

Look at the map of Shantung and it will at once be seen 
that, lying obliquely opposite to Port Arthur, is the leased terri- 
tory of Weihaiwei which Great Britain occupied in order to 
redress the "balance of power" in China when Russia seized 
Port Arthur. 

While China cannot but view foreign occupation of Weihai- 
wei as well as of other leased territories in a sense derogating 
from her territorial integrity, it is important even from the 
Chinese point of view to direct attention to the fact that the 
strategic value of Weihaiwei could be seriously impaired if the 

** It is important to note that the administration of a Japanese con- 
structed railway in China goes far beyond that of any other foreign con- 
structed railway in China, including even those constructed by Germany 
in Shantung. It means that the railway is practically manned by Japanese 
to the exclusion even of Chinese, that the railway is policed by Japanese 
gendarmerie and is guarded by Japanese troops along its entire length. 
That is the danger. 



12 

Power in possession of Port Arthur were to control either 
Chefoo or Lungkow, both of which lie to the "strategic rear" of 
the British leased territory. 

Group II — Annexation at Work. 

13. The seven demands in Group II exact in favour of 
Japan and her nationals a series of preferential rights, interests 
and privileges in South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia 
calculated at once to increase the existing difficulties which seri- 
ously hamper effective Chinese administration in these two areas 
and to develop a situation facilitating the extension thereto of 
the territorial system which has transformed Korea into a Japa- 
nese province. 

Although all the demands in this Group vitally affect the 
territorial integrity and independence of China in South Man- 
churia and Eastern Inner Mongolia, it must suffice here to direct 
attention only to the first demand which insists "that the lease 
of Port Arthur and Dalny and the term of lease of the South 
Manchurian Railway and the Antung-Mukden Railway shall be 
extended to a period of 99 years." 

The extension of these leaseholds means the perpetuation of 
an alien political system in South Manchuria that immediately 
menaces the territorial integrity and independence of China. 
Through Port Arthur — the most powerful citadel in continental 
Asia — and the commercial base of Dalny which is linked with 
the South Manchuria and Antung-Mukden lines, Japan politic- 
ally and commercially dominates a region through which lies 
the "historic road of invasions" into China. In the past, Asiatic 
invaders have entered the country from the North ; and it was 
through the IManchurian "gate" that the last invaders crossed 
into the great plains of Northern China 

History and a sense of realities seem to suggest a view of 
the Japanese system in South Manchuria that cannot be recon- 
ciled with the security of the Chinese Republic. And the oppo- 
sition between this system of Japan and the safety of China is 
made sharper by the demand in question. Instead of China 
regaining Port Arthur and Dalny in the year 1923 as stipulated 
in the original lease of these places, Japan will continue to retain 



13 

them until the month of March in the "eighty-sixth year of the 
Chinese RepubHc, that is to say, in the year 1997 of the Chris- 
tian Era" * — the precise month and year when Germany prom- 
ised to "return" Kiaochow to China. 

Group III — Japan's Iron Policy in China. 

14. Besides involving the violation of the territorial integ- 
rity and sovereignty of China in Shantung, South Manchuria 
and Eastern Inner Mongolia, the Twenty-One Demands also 
encroach on Chinese economic independence by their exaction 
in Group III of an undertaking with respect to the Han-Yeh- 
Ping Company or Iron-Works well calculated to lead to ulti- 
mate Japanese acquisition of the most important industrial enter- 
prise in the Yangtze Valley. 

In its final form as insisted upon in the Japanese ultimatum, 
the undertaking reads "that if in future the Han-Yeh-Ping 
Company and the Japanese capitalists agree upon co-operation, 
the Chinese Government, in view of the intimate relations sub- 
sisting between the Japanese capitalists and the said Company, 
will forthwith give its permission. The Chinese Government 
further agrees not to confiscate the said Company, nor without 
the consent of the lapanese caj^italists to convert it into a state 
enterprise, NOR CAUSE IT TO BORROW AND USE FOR- 
EIGN CAPITAL OTHER THAN JAPANESE." 

Two Japanese Statements. 

1-5. That the economic policy expressed in this Han-Yeh- 
Ping undertaking means Japanese control of China's natural 
resources, is made clear by two recent Japanese statements. In a 
pamphlet lately issued in Paris by Baron IMakino, then acting 
senior member of the Japanese Peace Delegation, the declara- 
tion is made that "China has the raw material: we have need 
for raw material and we have the capital to invest with China 
in its development for use by ourselves as well as by China." 
This same point was emphasized in an address delivered by 

* English version of the Treaties of 1915 officially published at Tokyo 
on June 9, 1915. 



u 

Viscount Uchida, the present Japanese Minister for Foreign 
Affairs, at the opening of the Diet at Tokyo last January : 

'We have to rely," the Minister declared, ''in a large meas- 
ure, upon rich natural resources in China in order to assure our 
own economic existence." 

China does not admit that her natural resources are 

NECESSARY TO ASSURE THE ECONOMIC EXISTENCE OF JaPAN ANY 
MORE THAN THE '^NATURAL RESOURCES" OF AlSACE-LoRRAINE 

were necessary to assure the economic existence of 
Germany. 

Group IV. 

16. The single demand in Group IV required the Chinese 
Government to "engage not to cede or lease to any OTHER 
POWER any harbour or bay on or any island along the coast of 
China." 

In insisting on this demand, Japan represented her object 
to be the more effective preservation of the "territorial integrity 
of China." It will be seen, however, that the demand is worded 
in a sense apparently excluding Japan from the category of 
Powers in whose favour the Chinese Government engage not 
to violate the territorial integrity of China. As a result of the 
Chinese Government's objection to a demand worded in such a 
dangerously ambiguous sense, the Japanese ultimatum called for 
a declaration by China that "no bay, harbour, or island along 
the coast of China may be ceded or leased to ANY POWER." 

Group V. 

17. Finally, we come to the set of seven demands known 
as Group V. It is an open secret that the existence of these 
demands was not admitted by Japan when public attention was 
first drawn to them and that they were not included in the 
Japanese communication replying to an inquiry of the Great 
Powers regarding the nature and the terms of the Twenty-One 
Demands. 

By this Group of Demands, "influential Japanese" were to 
be engaged by the Chinese Government "as advisers in political, 
financial and military affairs." "The police departments of 



important places (in China)" were to be "jointly administered 
by Japanese and Chinese or the police departments of these 
places" were to ''employ numerous Japanese." "China" was to 
"purchase from Japan a fixed amount of munitions of war 
(say oO'/f or more) of what is needed by the Chinese Govern- 
ment or there shall be established in China a Chino-Japanese 
jointly worked arsenal. Japanese technical experts are to be 
employed and Japanese material to be purchased." 

In other words, the Chinese army — with its illimitable pos- 
sibilities in man-power — was to be organized and controlled by 
influential Japanese military "advisers" and w^as to be equipped 
and su])plied with arms and munitions of Japanese pattern and 
manufacture. 

18. Railway rights were also demanded in this Group V 
which "conflicted with the Shanghai-Hangchow-Xingpo Railway 
Agreement of March (5, 1908, the Nanking-Changsha Railway 
Agreement of ]\Iarch 31, 1914, and the engagement of August 
24, 1914, giving preference to British firms for the projected line 
from Nanchang to Chaochowfu. For this reason the Chinese 
Government found themselves unable to consider the demand, 
though the Japanese ^linister, while informed of China's engage- 
ments with Great Piritain, repeatedly pressed for its acceptance" 
(Chinese Official Statement). 

Japanese Missionary Propaganda. 

19. Two of the demands in this Group V related to the 
acquisition of land for schools, hospitals and temples, as well as 
to the right of missionary propaganda. They presented "in the 

opinion of the Chinese Government grave obstacles the 

religions of the two countries are identical and therefore the 
need for a missionary propaganda to be carried on in China by 
Japanese does not exist. The natural rivalry between Chinese 
and Japanese followers of the same faith would tend to create 
incessant disputes and friction. Whereas Western missionaries 
live apart from the Chinese communities among wdiich they 
labour, Japanese monks would live with the Chinese, and the 
similarity of their physical characteristics, their religious garb, 
and their habits of life would render it impossible to distinguish 



16 

them for purposes of affording the protection which the Japa 
nese Government would require should be extended to them 
under the system of extra-territorialty now obtaining in China" 
(Chinese Official Statement). 

Moreover, there was the fear that the ''Japanese monks" 
might under the guise of missionary propagandists, carry on a 
political propaganda inconsistent with the maintenance of China's 
independence. 

"A Foreign Power" in Fukien. 

20. A short reference must be made to the demand in this 
Group relating to the province of Fukien, the acceptance of 
which — as mentioned in the next section — was included in the 
Japanese ultimatum, although, according to the "First Instruc- 
tions" to Mr. Hioki, it was to be presented not as a demand 
but as a "wish." 

The province happens to be the part of China lying nearest 
to — but at some distance from — the island of Formosa (see map 
facing p. 8) which was ceded to Japan as a result of her suc- 
cessful war against China in 1894-5. This geographical propin- 
quity is serving as a basis for certain Japanese claims respect- 
ing Fukien. One of these claims is that Japan has a sort of 
right of vetoing any attempt on the part of China to utilize and 
develop, with foreign capital, the natural facilities on any part 
of the Fukien coast as a "shipyard, military coaling station, 
naval station or any other military establishment." 

In the Japanese note relating to Fukien, which is included 
among the annexes to the Treaties of 1915, specific reference is 
made to a reported intention of the Chinese Government per- 
mitting "a foreign power" '^ to build a shipyard, etc., in the 
province. In the course of the discussion on this demand con- 
cerning Fukien, the Japanese representative justified its presen- 
tation on the ground that his Government understood that the 
United States was interested in some form of development-work 
in the province. 

Meaning of "Postponed for Later Negotiation." 

21. It is true that, with the exception of the demand re- 
lating to Fukien, this Group V was "postponed for later nego- 

* English version of the Treaties of 1915 officially published at Tokyo 
on June 9, 1915. 



17 

tiation" and its acceptance was not demanded in the Ultimatum 
by which Japan stopped further discussion of the Twenty-One 
Demands and insisted on the acceptance of the demands in 
Groups I, II, III and IV, subject to certain unimportant verbal 
variations. 

The Ultimatum was delivered to the Chinese Government 
on May 7, 1915, with the warning that "in case the Imperial 
[Japanese] Government fail to receive from the Chinese Govern- 
ment, before C) p. m. of May 9th, satisfactory response to their 
advice they will take such independent action as they may deem 
necessary to meet the situation." * 

Although this postponement of Group V for "later negotia- 
tion" was alleged by the Japanese Government to be *'a mark 
of their good will towards the Chinese Government," it is 
known that this course followed representations made to Japan 
by other Powers. The Japanese Government, nevertheless, in- 
sisted that the Chinese Government should specifically state in 
their reply to the Ultimatum that Group A' had l)cen "postponed 
for later negotiation." 

22. This statement of the case would be incomplete unless 
it were noted that, since the date of the Ultimatum, Japanese 
policy in China appears to be expressing itself in terms of the 
specific principles worked out in these demands in Group V 
"postponed for later negotiation." 

M. Krupensky's Testimony. 

23. What Japan means by postponing Group V "for later 
negotiation" is made plain by M. Krupensky, Russian Ambassa- 
dor at Tokyo, in two despatches written by him to his home 
government. These despatches were included among the docu- 
ments found in the archives of the Russian Foreign Office and 
published by the Russian Revolutionary Government on Novem- 
ber 22, 1917. 

M. Krupensky's first despatch is dated October 16, 1917, 
and reads as follows : 

* English version of the Ultimatum officially published at Tokyo on 
June 9, 1915. 



18 

"In reply to my question as to the credibility of the rumours 
alleging that Japan is prepared to sell to the Chinese Govern- 
ment a considerable quantity of arms and munitions, Viscount 
Motono [then Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs] confirmed 
them, and added that the Peking Government had promised not 
to use the arms against the Southerners. It was evident from 
the Minister's words, however, that this promise possessed only 
the value of a formal justification of this sale, infringing as 
the latter does the principle of non-intervention in the internal 

Chinese feuds, proclaimed by Japan herself It is most 

likely that the Japanese are aiming principally at obtaining the 
privilege of rearming the entire Chinese army, and at making 
China dependent in the future on Japanese arsenals and the 
supply of munitions from Japan. The arms to be supplied are 
estimated at 30,000,000 yen. At the same time, Japan intends 
establishing an arsenal in China for the manufacture of war 
materials." 

M. Krupensky's Second Despatch. 

The other despatch is dated October 22, 1917. It is a docu- 
ment of exceptional value, written as it is by one of the ablest 
members of the Russian Diplomatic Service, with a great knowl- 
edge of both Chinese and Japanese affairs. Before he was 
appointed to the Russian Embassy at Tokyo, M. Kruperisky was 
Russian Minister at Peking — indeed, he filled this office at the 
time when the Twenty-One Demands were presented and nego- 
tiated in 1915. 

After remarking that the reported American recognition of 
Japan's special position in China — then under negotiation at 
Washington — will "inevitably lead in the future to serious mis- 
understandings between us (Russia) and Japan," the document 
continues : — 

"The Japanese are manifesting more and more clearly a 
tendency to interpret the special position of Japan in China, 
inter alia, in the sense that other Powers must not undertake in 
China any political steps without previously exchanging views 
with Japan on the subject — a condition that zvoiild to some 
extent establish a Japanese control over the foreign aifairs of 



19 

China. [It will be remembered that one of the decisive acts 
preceding the annexation of Korea was the conclusion of the 
Japan-Korea Treaty of November 17, 1905, vesting in the Japa- 
nese Government the direction and control of the foreign affairs 
of Korea.] On the other hand, the Japanese Government does 
not attach much importance to its recognition of the principle of 
the open door and the integrity of China, regarding it as merely 
a repetition of the assurance repeatedly given by it earlier to 
other Powers and implying no new restrictions for the Japanese 
policy in China. It is, therefore, quite possible that at some 
future time there may arise in this connection misunderstanding 
between the United States and Japan. The ^Minister for Foreign 
Affairs confirmed today in conversation with me that in the 
negotiations by Viscount Ishii [at Washington] the question at 
issue is not some special concession to Japan in these or other 
parts of China, but Japan's special position in China as a 'cchoIc" 
(italics added). 

Japan and the Lansing-Ishii Agreement. 

24. In a third despatch written to the Russian Government 
under date of November 1, 1917, M. Krupensky explained what 
the Japanese Government thought regarding the possibility of 
misunderstanding in the interpretation of the Lansing-Ishii 
Agreement which recognized Japan's "special position" and 
"special interests" in China. Reporting that he had asked Vis- 
count Motono, Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs, "whether 
he did not fear that in the future misunderstandings might 
arise from the different interpretations by Japan and the United 
States of the terms 'special position' and 'special interests' of 
Japan in China," Mr. Krupensky stated: "I gain the impres- 
sion from the words of the Minister that he is conscious of the 
possibility of misunderstandings in the future, but is of the 
opinion that in such a case Japan would have better means at 
her disposal for carrying into effect her interpretation than the 
United States." 



The Chinese Government, when furnished with copies of these notes, 
lodged at Washington and at Tok3'o a declaration to the effect that China, 
having adopted toward friendly nations the principle of justice, equality, 



20 

and respect for treaty rights, and recognizing special relations created by 
territorial propinquity only so far as expressed in treaties, would not 
permit herself to be bound by any agreement made between other nations. 
The interpretation which the United States Government gives to 
the notes can be inferred from its statement, accompanying the publication 
of these notes, that these notes "not only contain a reaffirmation of the 
open door policy but also introduce a principle of non-interference with 
the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China, which, generally applied, 
is essential to perpetual international peace as has been so clearly declared 
bv President Wilson." 



PART THREE. 
ABROGATION OF TREATIES OF 1915. 



25. It is submitted that the Treaties and Notes signed and 
exchanged by and between the Chinese and Japanese Govern- 
ments on May 25, 1915, as a result of the negotiations connected 
with the Twenty-One Demands and of the Japanese ultimatum 
of May 7, 1915, are, and do constitute one entire transaction or 
settlement arising out of and connected with the war between 
the Allied and Associated States and the Central Powers. 

An essential feature of this transaction is the set of de- 
mands relating to the province of Shantung and insisting on 
the right of Japan to succeed to the leased territory of Kiaochow 
and the other "rights, interests and concessions" of Germany in 
the province. 

That this essential feature of the transaction can only be 
settled by the Peace Conference is clearly admitted by the Japa- 
nese Government, because they have submitted to the Confer- 
ence a claim for ''the unconditional cession of the leased terri- 
tory of Kiaochow together with the railways and other rights 
possessed by Germany in respect of Shantung province." 

It follows, therefore, the entire transaction or settlement of 
which this Shantung claim of Japan forms an essential feature, 
is A MATTER DIRECTLY ARISING OUT OF THE WAR 
AND WITHIN THE PURVIEW OF THE PEACE CON- 
FERENCE AND NECESSARILY SUBJECT TO ITS RE- 
VISIONARY ACTION. 



21 
War-Character of Treaties of 1915 Emphasized. 

2G. The war-character of these Treaties of 1915 is further 
attested by the opening sentence of the "First Instructions" to 
Mr. Hioki, which reads: "In order to provide for the readjust- 
ment of affairs consequent on the Japan-German war and for 
the purpose of ensuring a lasting peace in the Far East by 
strengthening the position of the [Japanese] Empire, the Im- 
perial Government have resolved to approach the Chinese Gov- 
ernment w^ith a view to conclude treaties and agreements mainly 
along the lines laid down in the first four Groups of the 
appended proposals." 

The Japanese ultimatum '^' also begins with a sentence, em- 
phasizing that the demarche is due to the desire of Japan "to 
adjust matters to meet the new situation created by the war 
between Japan and Germany " 

Treaties of 1915 Signed under Coercion. 

27. The fact that these Treaties of 1915 were signed by 
the Chinese Government of the day does not remove them from 
the scope of the revisionary authority of the Peace Conference. 
Nor can the same operate as an estoppel against China in her 
claim to be released from them. These Treaties were signed by 
the Chinese Government under coercion of the Japanese ulti- 
matum of May 7, 1915, and in circumstances entirely excluding 
any suggestion that China was a free and consenting party to 
the transaction embodied in them. 

Abrogation Involves No Injustice or Unfairness to Japan. 

28. The abrogation of the Treaties of 1915 necessarily 
carries with it the rejection of the pending Japanese claim for 
the unconditional cession of the German system in Shantung. 

On this point, the submission is made that no injustice or 
unfairness will be done to Japan in denying her claim to per- 
petuate German aggression in Shantung. Nor will Japan's 
failure in this respect place her in a position inferior to that of 
any of the other Powers in "territorial propinquity" to China, 
even assuming — which China does not admit — that Japan's "ter- 
ritorial propinquity" entitles her to claim a "special position" in 
China which has never been claimed by Great Britain and France 

* English version of the Uhimatum published at Tokyo. 



23 

although their respective Asiatic possessions are also ''contigu- 
ous" to the territory of the Chinese Republic. 

How China Was Prevented from Intervening in the War. 

29. It is also submitted that but for the attitude of Japan 
- — inspired largely, it seems, by her desire to replace Germany 
in Shantung — China would have been associated with the Allies 
in August, 1914, and again in November, 1915, in the strug- 
gle against the Central Powers. 

In August, 1914, the Chinese Government expressed their 
desire to declare war against Germany and to take part in the 
Anglo- Japanese operations aaginst the German garrison at 
Tsingtao. The proposal was not pressed owing to the intima- 
tion reaching the Chinese Government that the proposed Chinese 
participation was likely to create "complications" with a certain 
Power. 

Again in November, 1915, the Chinese Government ex- 
pressed their desire to enter the war in association with the 
Allies but the Japanese Government opposed the proposal. 

Eventually, however, the Chinese Government addressed a 
note of warning to Germany on February 9, 1917, severed diplo- 
matic relations with the latter on March 14 following, and 
finally declared war against Germany and Austria on August 
14, 1917 — the opposition of the Japanese Government having 
been removed in the circumstances indicated in another despatch 
written by M. Krupensky to the Russian Government on Febru- 
ary 8, 1917, reporting on his efforts to induce Japan to with- 
draw her opposition to China's entry into the war on the side 
of the Allies (vide, infra, Section 34)"^. 

* In this connection, it is right to note China's war-services and offer 
of man-power to the AlHes and America. During the war a large con- 
tingent of Chinese workers laboured for the Allies behind the battle lines 
in Northern France. They eventually numbered 130,678. Not a few of 
them were killed or wounded by enemy operations. In addition to these 
workers in France, a large number were employed in connection with the 
British operations in Mesopotamia and German East Africa; and the 
crews of quite a considerable number of British ships consisted of Chinese 
seamen. 

Besides placing at the disposal of the Allied Governments nine steam- 
ers, which were greatly needed for the Chinese export trade, the Chinese 
Government offered to despatch an army of 100,000 to reinforce the man- 
power of the Allied and Associated States in France. The offer was 
favourably entertained by the Inter-Allied Council in Paris ; but owing to 
Allied inability to supply the necessary tonnage for transport, the proposal 
eventuallv could not be carried out. 



23 

^)0. l'\irther, it is reasonable to point out that, if Japan 
had not occupied it, the leased territory of Kiaochow would in 
any event have been directly restored to China as one of the 
States associated with the Allied Powers and the United States 
in the war against the Central Powers. 



•^tj' 



The Congress of Berlin. 

31. The submission is further made that, in addition to the 
foregoing reasons, there are precedents justifying the Peace 
Conference in dealing with the Treaties of 1915 in the sense 
of abrogation. 

The Congress of Berlin is an instance of the Great Powers, 
acting as a whole and collectively, revising a treaty concluded 
between two states, i. e., Russia and Turkey, for a variety of 
reasons but mainly because the settlement dictated by Russia 
at San Stefano was deemed ultimately to endanger the peace 
of Europe. 

It is urged that the settlement dictated by Japan at Peking 
in 1915 endangers directly the peace of Far Asia and, ultimately, 
the peace of the world. 

A Conference Ruling. 

32. There are two other arguments against the validity of 
the Treaties of 1915. One is based on a ruling of the Confer- 
ence and the other on the lack of finality afifecting the Treaties. 

By Article 1 of the "Treaty Respecting the Province of 
Shantung" (see App. 4) — which embodies the first of the 
Twenty-One Demands — the Chinese Government engage to 
recognize any agreement concluded between Japan and Ger- 
many respecting the disposition of the latter's ''rights, interests 
and concessions" in the province ; and in the notes exchanged 
regarding Kiaochow (see p. 41), Japan subjects the restoration 
of the leased territory to the condition inter alia, that "a con- 
cession under the exclusive jurisdiction of Japan [is] to be 
established at a place designated by the Japanese Government." 

As regards this Article 1 of the Treaty, it is important to 
emphasize the point that Japan is debarred from negotiating 
separately with Germany in respect of the latter's system in 



24 

Shantung owing to the decision of the Conference to deal with 
German "territories and cessions" without consulting Germany. 
On this view it is plain that Japan is not in a position to 
agree with Germany regarding the "free disposal" of Kiaochow 
and that the article in question should be deemed inoperative. 

An Illusory Restoration of Kiaochow. 

The same objection applies to the notes exchanged. And 
even if this were not so, the illusory character of the restoration 
of Kiaochow contemplated in them would be a proper matter 
for the consideration of the Peace Conference in deciding on 
Japan's claim for the unconditional cession of Kiaochow and 
the rest of the German system in Shantung. 

The chief value of Kiaochow lies partly in the harbour of 
Tsingtao and partly in an area dominating the finest anchorage 
of that harbour which has been delimited by the Japanese 
Government and is already reserved for exclusive Japanese 
occupation under Japanese jurisdiction, no one other than Jap- 
anese being permitted to hold land w-ithin its boundaries. 

This delimited area, presumably, is the "place to be desig- 
nated by the Japanese Government" as "a concession under the 
exclusive jurisdiction of Japan." The restoration of Kiaochow 
to China, with retention by Japan of the area dominating it, 
would be the restoration of the "shadow" of this "place in the 
sun" and the retention of its substance by Japan. 

Lack of Finality. 

33. Since the date of the Treaties of 1915, even Japan 
has acted on the assumption that they are lacking in finality. 

It is evident that the scheme worked out in the Twenty- 
One Demands and in the Treaties of 1915 demanded for its 
permanence the assent of the Great Powers with whom Japan 
was and is under agreement guaranteeing the independence and 
integrity of China. 

Accordingly, the Japanese Government secured the con- 
clusion of two treaties with Russia in the summer of 1916 (see 
App. 5). One w^as made public and, before its signature, was 



communicated to the British Government. I>ut the other was 
a secret treaty, consisting of six articles whereof the last pro- 
vided that the '^present Convention shall be kept in complete 
secrecy from everybody except the two Pligh Contracting 
Parties^". 

If these significant documents are to be interpreted accu- 
rately they must be studied — particularly the secret treaty — in 
connection with the x\nglo-Japanese Treaty of Alliance of July 
13, lyil. The latter provides, in Art. 3, that "the High Con- 
tracting Parties agree that neither of them will, without con- 
sulting the other, enter into separate arrangement with another 
Power to the prejudice of the objects described in the preamble 
of this Agreement." One of these objects is defined to be ''the 
preservation of the common interests of all Powers in China 
by insuring the independence and integrity of the Chinese 
Empire and the principle of equal opportunities for the com- 
merce and industry of all nations in China." 

It is obvious that this specific object of the Anglo- Japanese 
Treaty would be infringed by the political domination of China 
or any portion of the territory of the Chinese Republic by 
either or both of the contracting parties to the secret Russo- 
Japanese Treaty. And yet this secret Treaty, in Art. 1, fails 
to provide against the ''political domination of China" by either 
or both Japan and Russia although a secret military alliance is 
definitely made by the two Powers against the "political dom- 
ination of China by ANY THIRD POWER." 

A further comment may be added. Article 2 of the Public 
Treaty provides for consultation between Japan and. Russia in 
case their territorial rights or special interests in the Far East 
be threatened. The specific reference to China in the Secret 
Treaty shows that the "special interests" of the parties contem- 
plated were those recognized by each other as existing in China. 

* Commenting on the Treaties in its issue of December 24, 1917, a 
great organ of British public opinion pointed out that there were consid- 
erable differences between the public and secret documents : 'The Public 
Treaty professes to aim at maintaining a lasting peace in the Far East 
and makes no reference to China : the Secret Treaty is not concerned with 
Peace but with the interests of both contracting Powers in China.... The 
PubHc Treaty indicates consultation between the contracting parties as to 
the measures to be taken, the Secret Treaty points to military measures 
and is definitely a military alliance." 



There can be no question whatever that, under the Treaties of 
1915, Japan secured vahiable territorial rights and special inter- 
ests in great regions of China like South Manchuria, Eastern 
Inner Mongolia and Shantung. Indeed, the cumulative effect 
of these Treaties of 1915 is to centre in the hand of Japan a 
"political domination of China" conflicting with the preamble of 
the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. 

Further Negotiations with Russia. 

34. Further negotiations between Japan and Russia are 
reported in another despatch written by M. Krupensky to Petro- 
grad under date of February 8, 1917. 

The Ambassador was reporting on his efforts to induce 
Japan to withdraw her opposition to China's entry into the war 
on the side of the Allies. After stating that he never omitted 
"an opportunity for representing to [Viscount Motono] the 
Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs, the desirability, in the 
interests of Japan herself, of China's intervention in the war" 
and that the Minister had promised "to sound the attitude of 
Peking without delay", Mr. Krupensky reported that — 

"On the other hand, the Minister pointed out the necessity 
for him, in view of the attitude of Japanese opinion on the 
subject, as well as with a view to safeguard Japan's position at 
the future Peace Conference, if China should he admitted to it 
(italics added), of securing the support of the Allied Powers 
to the desires of Japan in respect of Shantung and the Pacific 
Islands. These desires are for the succession to all the rights 
and privileges hitherto possessed by Germany in the Shantung 
Province and for the acquisition of the Islands to the north of 
the equator which are now occupied by the Japanese. Montono 
plainly told me that the Japanese Government would like to 
receive at once the promise of the Imperial (Russian) Govern- 
ment to support the above desires of Japan." 

"In order to give a push," the Ambassador added per- 
suasively, "to the highly important question of a break between 
China and Germany I regard it as very desirable that the 
Japanese should be given the promise they ask," 



27 
The Russian Promise. 

35. This promise was given in the following communica- 
tion, dated at "Tokyo, le 20 fevrier/5 mars 191T: 

"En reponse a la notice du Ministere des Affaires Etran- 
geres du Japon, en date du 19 fevrier dernier, I'Ambassade de 
Russie est chargee de donner au Gouvernement Japonais I'assur- 
ance qu'il pent entierement compter sur I'appui du Gouverne- 
ment Imperial de Russie par rapport a ses desiderata concernant 
la cession eventuelle au Japon des droits appartenant a TAlle- 
magne au Chantoung et des iles allemandes occupees par les 
forces japonaises dans I'Ocean Pacifique au nord de I'equateur." 

36. It is reasonable to suggest that if Japan had at this 
date regarded, in a sense of finality, the settlement imposed on 
Chin., in 1915, there would have been no necessity for Japan to 
insist on Allied support of her claim regarding Shantung at the 
future Peace Conference. 

Other Allied Promises. 

37. The same remark applies to the other promises of 
support secured by the Japanese Government from Great Britain 
on February 16, 1917; from France, on March 1, 1917; and 
from Italy whose Minister for Foreign Affairs verbally stated on 
March 28, 1917, that "the Italian Government had no objection 
regarding the matter." 

Without attempting to express here the Chinese sense of 
disappointment at the conclusion of these agreements at a time 
when China was definitely aligning herself with the Allied and 
Associated States in the struggle against the Central Powers, 
it is pertinent to state that, in the view of the Chinese Govern- 
ment, these Allied promises to Japan in so far as they relate to 
China cannot be deemed binding on Great Britain, France and 
Italy on the main ground that China's subsequent entry into 
the war on August 14, 1917, in association with the Allies and 
the United States involved such a vital change of the circum- 
stances existing at the dates of the respective promises and of 
the situation contemplated therein that the principle of rebus 
sic sfaJitibits necessarily applies to them. 



28 

Disclaimer by Chinese Government. 

38. That the Chinese Government also regarded the 
Treaties of 1915 is lacking in finality is clear from the dis- 
claimer registered in their official statement on the negotiation 
connected with the Twenty-One Demands. 

Although threatened by the presence of large bodies of 
troops despatched by the Japanese Government to South Man- 
churia and Shantung — whose withdrawal, the Japanese Minister 
at Peking declared in reply to a direct inquiry by the Chinese 
Government, would not be effected ''until the negotiations could 
be brought to a satisfactory conclusion" — the Chinese Govern- 
ment issued an official statement immediately after this ''satis- 
factory conclusion" had been effected under pressure of the 
Ultimatum of May 7, 1915, declaring that they were "con- 
strained to comply in full with the terms of the Ultimatum, but 
in complying the Chinese Government disclaimed any desire to 
associate themselves with any revision, which may be effected, 
of the various conventions and agreements concluded between 
other Powers in respect of the maintenance of China's territorial 
independence and integrity, the preservation of the status quo, 
and the principle of equal oportunity for the commerce and 
industry of all nations in China." 

A "Unilateral Negotiation." 

39. The foregoing declaration was preceded by an account 
of the manner in which the negotiations had been conducted or, 
more accurately, dictated by Japan. It was shown how, faced 
by Twenty-One Demands of a powerful government "deter- 
mined to attain this end by all means within their power" and 
at a selected moment when three of the Powers — with whom 
Japan had' severally guaranteed the independence and integrity 
of China — were engaged in a deadly struggle with the Germanic 
Kingdoms, China was compelled to enter into a singularly 
unequal negotiation with Japan. 

It was a negotiation in which the number and virtually the 
personnel of China's representatives were dictated to her. It 
was a negotiation in which Japan refused to have official minutes 
of the proceedings kept as proposed by China, with the result 



90 

that the Japanese and Chinese representatives differed in their 
respective records of important declarations made by the latter, 
and, on the basis of some of these differences, the Japanese 
Government in their Ultimatum accused the Chinese Govern- 
ment of "arbitrarily nullifying" statements alleged to have been 
made — but in fact never made — by the senior Chinese repre- 
sentative. It was a negotiation in the course of which — these 
are the words of the Chinese Official Statement issued at the 
time — ''the Japanese ^Minister twice suspended the conferences, 
obviously with the object of compelling compliance with his 
views on certain points at the time under discussion." In a 
word, it was a negotiation in which Japan dominated and dic- 
tated the course and the terms of the discussion. 

Protest by United States Government. 

40. Presumably it was as much this element of harshness 
as the subject matter of the negotiation which moved the Gov- 
ernment of the United States concurrently to address to the 
Chinese and Japanese Governments, four days after the delivery 
of the Ultimatum to China, the following identic note : — 

"In view of the circumstances of the negotiations which 
have taken place and which are now pending between the 
Government of China and the Government of Jajxin and of the 
agreements which have been reached as a result thereof, the 
Government of the United States has the honour to notify the 
Government of the Chinese Republic [Japan], that it cannot 
recognize any agreement or undertaking which has been entered 
into between the Governments of China and Japan impairing 
the treaty rights of the United States and its citizens in China, 
the political or territorial integrity of the Republic of China or 
the international policy relative to China commonly known as 
the Open Door Policy. An identical note has been transmitted 
to the Japanese [Chinese] Government." 



30 



CONCLUSION. 



Suniniing- up the foregoing- arg-uments, it is submitted that 
they estabhsh the claim of China for the abrogation of the 
Treaties of 1915 — 

I. Because these Treaties are and constitute one entire 
transaction or entity arising out of the war and they attempt 
to deal with matters whose proper determination is entirely a 
right and interest of the Peace Conference ; 

II. Because they contravene the Allied formula of justice 
and principles now serving as the guiding rules of the Peace 
Conference in its task of working out a settlement of the affairs 
of nations in order to prevent or minimize the chances of war 
in the future ; 

III. Because, specifically, they violate the territorial integ- 
rity and political independence of China as guaranteed in the 
series of conventions and agreements severally concluded by 
Great Britain, France, Russia and the United States with Japan ; 

IV. Because they were negotiated in circumstances of 
intimidation and concluded under the duress of the Japanese 
ultimatum of Alay 7, 1915 ; and 

V. Because they are lacking in^ finality, being so regarded 
by Japan who sought to make them fiftaLby negotiating — before 
China was suffered to enter the war in association with the 
Allies and the United States — a set of secret agreements at 
variance with the principles accepted by the Belligerents as the 
basis of the peace settlement. 



31 
APPENDICES. 



No. 1. 

Instructions Handed at Tokyo on December 3, 1914, by 

Baron Kato to Mr. Hioki in Connection with the 

Twenty-One Demands and Officially Published at Tokyo 

On June 9, 1915. 



First Instructions Given by Baron Kato to Mr. Hioki. 

In order to provide for the readjustment of afifairs conse- 
quent on the Japan-German war and for the purpose of ensuring 
a lasting peace in the Par East by strengthening the position 
of the Empire, the #mperial Government have resolved to 
approach the Chinese Government with a view to conclude 
treaties and agreements mainly along the lines laid down in 
the first four Groups of the appended proposals. Of these, the 
first Group relates to the settlement of the Shantung question, 
while the second Group has for its chief aim the defining of 
Japan's position in South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mon- 
golia, that is to say, securing at this time from the Chinese 
Government full recognition of Japan's natural position in these 
regions absence of which has hitherto been the cause of various 
questions tending to estrange the feelings of the two peoples 
towards each other. The object of the third Group is to safe- 
guard the best interest of the Han-Yeh-Ping Company, with 
w^hich Japanese capitalists are closely identified. It will thus be 
seen that there is nothing especially new in our proposals 
embodied in the foregoing three (jroups, while as regards the 
fourth Group, it is only intended to emphasize the principle of 
China's territorial integrity, which has been so often declared 
by the Imperial Government. 

Believing it absolutely essential, for strengthening Japan's 
position in Eastern Asia as well as for ]:»reservation of the 



*, 



32 

general interests of that region, to secure China's adherence to 
the foregoing proposals, the Imperial Government are deter- 
mined to attain this end by all means within their power. You 
are, therefore, requested to use your best endeavour in the 
conduct of the negotiations, which are hereby placed in your 
hands. 

As regards the proposals contained in the fifth Group, they 
are presented as the wishes of the Imperial Government. The 
matters which are dealt with under this category are entirely 
different in character from those which are included in the 
first four Groups. An adjustment, at this time, of these matters, 
some of which have been pending between the two countries, 
being nevertheless highly desirable for the advancement of the 
friendly relations between Japan and China as well as for safe- 
guarding their common interests, you are also requested to 
exercise your best efforts to have our wishes carried out. 

It is very likely that in the course of these negotiations the 
Chinese Government desire to find out the attitude of the Im- 
perial Government on the question of the disposition of the 
leased territory of Kiaochow Bay. If the Chinese Government 
will accept our proposals as above-stated, the Imperial Govern- 
ment may, with due regard to the principle of China's territorial 
integrity and in the interest of the friendship of the two coun- 
tries, consider the question with a view to restoring the said 
territory to China, in the event of Japan's being given free 
hand in the disposition thereof as the result of the coming peace 
conference between Japan and Germany. As, however, it will 
be absolutely necessary, in restoring the said territory to China, 
to lay certain conditions such as the opening of the territory 
for foreign trade, establishment of a Japanese settlement, etc., 
you will ask for further instructions when you propose to 
declare to the Chinese Government the willingness of the Im- 
perial Government to consider the question. 

[N. B. Here follow the ''appended proposals" or Twenty- 
One Demands, divided into five Groups, for a translation of 
which from the Chinese text, vide Appendix 2.] 



33 



No. 2. 
Japan's Twenty-One Demands. 



Japan's Original Demands. 

Handed to His Excellency the President Yuaii-Shih-kai, by 
His Excellency, il/r. Elioki, the Japanese Minister to China, on 
January 18, IDlo, translated from the Chinese tcvt and pub- 
lished bx the Chinese Covernnient at Peking:; in June. 15)15. 

I. 

The Japanese Government and the Chinese Government 
being desirous of maintaining the general peace in Eastern Asia 
and further strengthening the friendly relations and good neigh- 
bourhood existing between the two nations agree to the follow- 
nig articles : 

Art. 1. The Chinese Government engages to give full 
assent to all matters upon which the Japanese Government may 
hereafter agree with the German Government relating to the 
disposition of all rights, interests and concessions, which Ger- 
many, by virtue of treaties or otherwise, possesses in relation 
to the Province of Shantung. 

Art. 2. The Chinese Government engages that within the 
IVovince of Shantung and along its coast no territory or island 
will be ceded or leased to a third Power under any pretext. 

Art. 3. The Chinese Government consents to Japan's 
building a railway from Chefoo or Lungkow to join the Kiao- 
chow-Tsinanfu Railway. 

Art. 4. The Chinese Government engages, in the interest 
of trade and for the residence of foreigners, to o])en by herself 
as soon as possible certain important cities and towns in the 
Province of Shantung as Commercial Ports. What places shall 
be opened are to be jointly decided upon in a separate agree- 
ment. 



34 



11. 



The Japanese Government and the Chinese Government, 
since the Chinese Government has always acknowledged the 
special position enjoyed by Japan in South Manchuria and East- 
ern Inner ^Mongolia, agree to the following articles : 

Art. 1. The two Contracting Parties mutually agree that 
the term of lease of Port Arthur and Dalny and the term of 
lease of the South ^lanchurian Railway and the Antung-AIukden 
Railway shall be extended to the period of 99 years. 

Art. 2. Japanese subjects in South Alanchuria and East- 
ern Inner ^Mongolia shall have the right to lease or own land 
required either for erecting suitable buildings for trade and 
manufacture or for farming. 

Art. 3. Japanese subjects shall be free to reside and travel 
in South Alanchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia and to engage 
in business and in manufacture of any kind whatsoever. 

Art. 4. The Chinese Government agrees to grant to 
Japanese subjects the right of opening the mines in South 
Alanchuria and Eastern Inner ^longolia. As regards what 
mines are to be opened, they shall be decided upon jointly. 

Art. 5. The Chinese Government agrees that in respect 
of the (two) cases mentioned herein below the Japanese Gov- 
ernment's consent shall be first obtained before action is taken : 

(a) \\'henever permission is granted to the subject of a 
third Power to build a railway or to make a loan with a third 
Power for the purpose of building a railway in South Manchuria 
and Eastern Inner iMongolia ; 

(b) Whenever a loan is to be made with a third Power 
pledging the local taxes of South Manchuria and Eastern Inner 
Alongolia as security. 

Art. 6. The Chinese Government agrees that if the Chi- 
nese Government employs political, financial or military advisers 
or instructors in South Manchuria or Eastern Inner ^Mongolia, 
the Japanese Government shall first be consulted. 



35 

Art. 7. The Chinese Government ai^rees that the control 
and management of the Kirin-Chang-chim Railway shall be 
handed over to the Japanese Government for a term of 99 vears 
dating from the signing of this Agreement. 

III. 

The Japanese Government and the Chinese Government, 
seeing that Japanese financiers and the Hanyehping Company, 
have close relations with each other at present and desiring that 
the common interests of the two nations shall be advanced, 
agree to the following articles : — 

Art. 1. The two Contracting Parties mutually agree that 
when the opportune moment arrives the Hanyehping Company 
shall be made a joint concern of the two nations and they fur- 
ther agree that without the previous consent of Japan, China 
shall not by her own act dispose of the rights and property of 
whatsoever nature of the said Company nor cause the said Com- 
pany to dispose freely of the same. 

Art. 2. The Chinese Government agrees that all mines in 
the neighbourhood of those owned by the Hanyehping Company 
shall not be permitted, without the consent of the said Company, 
to be worked by other persons outside of the said Company; 
and further agrees that if it is desired to carry out any under- 
taking which, it is apprehended, may directly or indirectly afifect 
the interests of the said Company, the consent of the said Com- 
pany shall first be obtained. 

IV. 

The Japanese Government and the Chinese Government 
with the object of effectively preserving the territorial integrity 
of China agree to the following special article : — 

The Chinese Government engages not to cede or lease to 
a third Power any harbour or bay or island along the coast 
of China. 

V. 

Art. 1. The Chinese Central Government shall employ 



30 

influential Japanese as advisers in political, financial, and mili- 
tary afifairs. 

Art. 2. Japanese hospitals, churches, and schools in the 
interior of China shall be granted the right of owning land. 

Art. 3. Inasmuch as the Japanese Government and the 
Chinese Government have had many cases of dispute between 
Japanese and Chinese police to settle cases which caused no 
little misunderstanding, it is for this reason necessary that the 
police departments of important places (in China) shall be 
jointly administered by Japanese and Chinese or that the police 
departments of these places shall employ numerous Japanese, 
so that they may at the same time help to plan for the improve- 
ment of the Chinese Police Service. 

Art. 4. China shall purchase from Japan a fixed amount 
of munitions of war (say 50% or more) of what is needed by 
the Chinese Government or that there shall be established in 
China a Chino- Japanese jointly worked arsenal. Japanese tech- 
nical experts are to be employed and Japanese material to be 
purchased. 

Art. 5. China agrees to grant to Japan the right of con- 
structing a railway connecting Wuchang and Kiukiang and 
Nanchang, another line between Nanchang and Hanchow, and 
another between Nanchans: and Chaochou. 



'!=> 



Art. 6. If China needs foreign capital to work mines, 
build railways and construct harbour-works (including dock- 
yards) in the Province of Fukien, Japan shall be first consulted. 

Art. 7. China agrees that Japanese subjects shall have the 
right of missionary propaganda in China. 



No. 3. 

Japan's Ultimatum to China. 

Japan's Ultimatmn delivered by the Japanese Minister to 
the Chinese Government, on May 7, 1915, translated from the 
Chinese text pnblished at Peking in June 1915, 



37 

The reason wh}- the Imperial Government opened the 
present negotiations with the Chinese Government is first to 
endeavour to dispose of the compHcations arising out of the 
war between Japan and Germany, and secondly to attempt to 
solve those various questions which are detrimental to the inti- 
mate relations of China and Japan with a view to solidifying 
the foundation of cordial friendship subsisting between the two 
countries to the end that the peace of the Far East may be 
effectually and permanently preserved. With this object in view, 
definite proposals were presented to the Chinese Government 
in January of this year, and up to to-day as many as twenty- 
five conferences have been held with the Chinese Government 
in perfect sincerity and frankness. 

In the course of the negotiation the Imperial Government 
have consistently explained the aims and objects of the pro- 
posals in a conciliatory spirit, while on the other hand the 
proposals of the Chinese Government, whether important or 
unimportant, have been attended to without any reserve. 

It may be stated with confidence that no effort has been 
spared to arrive at a satisfactory and amicable settlement of 
those questions. 

The discussion of the entire corpus of the proposals was 
practically at an end at the twenty- fourth conference ; that is 
on the 17 th of the last month. The Imperial Government, 
taking a broad view of the negotiation and in consideration of 
the points raised by the Chinese Government, modified the 
original proposals with considerable concessions and presented 
to the Chinese Government on the 26th of the same month the 
revised proposals for agreement, and at the same time it was 
off'ered that, on the acceptance of the revised proposals, the 
Imperial Government would, at a suitable opportunity, restore, 
w^ith fair and proper conditions to the Chinese Government the 
Kiaochow territory, in the acquisition of which the Imperial 
Government had made a great sacrifice. 

On the 1st of May, the Chinese Government delivered the 
reply to the revised proposals of the Japanese Government, 
which is contrary to the expectation of the Imperial Govern- 
ment. The Chinese Government not only did not give a careful 



38 

consideration to the revised proposals but even with regard to 
the offer of the Japanese Government to restore Kiaochow to 
the Chinese Government the latter did not manifest the least 
appreciation for Japan's goodwill and difficulties. 

From the commercial and military points of view Kiaochow 
is an important place, in the acquisition of which the Japanese 
Empire sacrificed much blood and money, and, after the acqui- 
sition the Empire incurs no obligation to restore it to China. 
But with the object of increasing the future friendly relations 
of the two countries, they went to the extent of proposing its 
restoration, yet to her great regret, the Chinese Government 
did not take into consideration the good intention of Japan and 
manifest appreciation of her difficulties. Furthermore, the Chi- 
nese Government not only ignored the friendly feelings of the 
Imperial Government in offering the restoration of Kiaochow 
Bay, but also in replying to the revised proposals they even 
demanded its unconditional restoration ; and again China de- 
manded that Japan should bear the responsibility of paying 
indemnity for all the unavoidable losses and damages resulting 
from Japan's military operations at Kiaochow ; and still further 
in connection with the territory of Kiaochow China advanced 
other demands and declared that she has the right of partici- 
pation at the future peace conference to be held between Japan 
and Germany. Although China is fully aware that the uncon- 
ditional restoration of Kiaochow and Japan's responsibility of 
indemnification for the unavoidable losses and damages can 
never be tolerated by Japan yet she purposely advanced these 
demands and declared that this reply was final and decisive. 

Since Japan could not tolerate such demands the settlement 
of the other questions, however compromising it may be, would 
not be to her interest. The consequence is that the present 
reply of the Chinese Government is, on the whole, vague and 
meaningless. 

Furthermore, in the reply of the Chinese Government to 
the other proposals in the revised list of the Imperial Govern- 
ment, such as South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia, 
where Japan particularly has geographical, commercial, indus- 
trial and strategic relations, as recognized by all the nations, 
and made more remarkable in consequence of the two wars in 



39 

which Japan was engaged, the Chinese Government overlooks 
these facts and does not respect Japan's position in that place. 
The Chinese Government even freely altered those articles which 
the Imperial Government, in a compromising spirit, have formu- 
lated in accordance with the statement of the Chinese Repre- 
sentatives thereby making the statements of the Representatives 
an empty talk ; and on seeing them conceding with the one hand 
and withholding with the other it is very difficult to attribute 
faithfulness and sincerity to the Chinese Authorities. 

As regards the articles relating to the employment of 
advisers, the establishment of schools and hospitals, the supply 
of arms and ammunition and the establishment of arsenals and 
railway concessions in South China in the revised proposals they 
were either proposed with the proviso that the consent of the 
Powel* concerned must be obtained, or they are merely to be 
recorded in the minutes in accordance with the statements of 
the Chinese delegates, and thus they are not in the least in 
conflict either with Chinese sovereignty or her treaties with the 
Foreign Powers, yet the Chinese Government in their reply to 
the proposals, alleging that the proposals are incompatible with 
their sovereign rights and treaties with Foreign Powers, defeat 
the expectations of the Imperial Government. However, in 
spite of such attitude of the Chinese Government, the Imperial 
Government, though regretting to see that there is no room for 
further negotiations, yet warmly attached to the preservation of 
the peace of the Far East, is still hoping for a satisfactory 
settlement in order to avoid the disturbance of the relations. 

So, in spite of the circumstances which admitted no patience, 
they have reconsidered the feelings of the Government of their 
neighbouring Country and, with the exception of the article, 
relating to Fukien which is to be the subject of an exchange 
of notes as has already been agreed upon by the Representatives 
of both nations, will undertake to detach the Group V, from 
the present negotiation and discuss it separately in the future. 
Therefore the Chinese Government should appreciate the friendly 
feelings of the Imperial Government by immediately accepting 
without any alteration all the articles of Groups I, II, III, and 
IV and the exchange of notes in connection with Fukien prov- 



40 

ince in Group V as contained in the revised proposals presented 
on the 26th of April. 

The Imperial Government hereby again offers its advice and 
hopes that the Chinese Government, upon this advice, will give 
a satisfactory reply by 6 o'clock p. m. on the 9th day of May. 
It is hereby declared that if no satisfactory reply is received 
before or at the specified time, the Imperial Government will 
take steps they may deem necessary. 



No. 4. 

Treaties and Notes Signed and Exchanged Between China and 

Japan, on May 25, 1915. 



Treaty Respecting the Province of Shantung. 

His Excellency the President of the Republic of China and 
His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, having resolved to conclude 
a Treaty with a view to the maintenance of general peace in 
the Extreme East and the further strengthening of the relations 
of friendship and good neighbourhood now existing between the 
two nations, have for that purpose named as their Plenipoten- 
tiaries, that is to say : 

His Excellency the President of the Republic of China, 
Lou Tseng-tsiang, Chiingching First Class Chia Ho Decoration, 
Minister of Foreign Affairs ; 

And His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, Hioki Eki, Jtishii 
Second Class of the Imperial Order of the Sacred Treasure, 
-Minister Plenipotentiary, and Envoy Extraordinary : 

Who after having communicated to each other their full 
powers and found them to be in good and due form, have 
agreed upon and concluded the following Articles : 

Article 1. The Chinese Government agrees to give full 
assent to all matters upon which the Japanese Government may 
hereafter agree with the German Government relating to the 
disposition of all rights, interests and concessions which Ger- 



41 

many, by virtue of treaties or otherwise, possesses in relation 
to the Province of Shantung. 

Art. 2. The Chinese Government agrees that as regards 
the railway to be built by China herself from Chefoo or Lung- 
kow to connect with the Kiaochow^-Tsinanfu Railway if Ger- 
many abandons the privilege of financing the Chefoo- Weihsien 
line, China will approach Japanese capitalists to negotiate for 
a loan. 

Art. 3. The Chinese Government agrees, in the interest 
of trade and for the residence of foreigners, to open by China 
herself as soon as possible certain suitable places in the Prov- 
ince of Shantung as Commercial Ports. 

Art. 4. The present treaty shall come into force on the 
day of its signature. 

The present treaty shall be ratified by His Excellency the 
President of the Republic of China and His Majesty the 
Emperor of Japan, and the ratification thereof shall be ex- 
changed at Tokyo as soon as possible. 

In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries of the 
High Contracting Parties have signed and sealed the present 
Treaty, two copies in the Chinese language and two in Japanese. 

Done at Peking this twenty-fifth day of the fifth month of 
the fourth year of the Republic of China, corresponding to the 
same day of the same month of the fourth year of Taisho. 



Exchange of Notes Respecting Shantung. 

NOTE. 

Peking, the 2hth day of the -Sth month of 
the 4:th year of the Republic of China. 

AIonsieur le Ministre, 

In the name of my Government I have the honour to make 
the following declaration to your Government : — "Within the 



42 

Province of Shantung or along its coast no territory or island 
will be leased or ceded to any foreign Power under any pretext." 

I avail, etc., 

(Signed) Lou Tseng-Tsiang. 
His Excellency, Hioki Eki, 
Japanese Minister. 

REPLY. 

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of 
the 4:th year of Taisho. 
Excellency, 
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note of this day's date in which you made the 
following declaration in the name of the Chinese Government: — 
"Within the Province of Shantung or along its coast no terri- 
tory or island will be leased or ceded to any foreign Power 
under any pretext." 

In reply I beg to state that I have taken note of this 
declaration. 

I avail, etc., 

(Signed) Hioki Eki. 

His Excellency, Lou Tseng-Tsiang, 
Minister of Foreign Affairs. 



Exchange of Notes Respecting the Opening of Ports 

in Shantung. 

NOTE. 

• Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of 
the 4:th year of the Republic of China. 

Monsieur le Ministre, 
I have the honour to state that the places which ought to 
be opened as Commercial Ports by China herself, as provided 
in Article 3 of the Treaty respecting the Province of Shantung 
signed this day, will be selected and the regulations therefor 
will be drawn up by the Chinese Government itself, a decision 



43 

concerning which will be made after consulting the Minister of 
Japan. 

I avail, etc., 

(Signed) Lou Tseng-Tsiang. 

His Excellency, Hioki Eki, 
Japanese Minister. 

REPLY. 

Peking, the 2Dth day of the ')th month of 
the ^th year of Taisho. 
Excellency, 
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note of this day's date in which you stated "that 
the places which ought to be opened as Commercial Ports by 
China herself, as provided in Article 3 of the Treaty respecting 
the Province of Shantung signed this day, will be selected and 
the regulations therefor will be drawn up by the Chinese Gov- 
ernment itself, a decision concerning which will be made after 
consulting the Minister of Japan." 

In reply, I beg to state that I have taken note of the same. 

I avail, etc., 

(Signed) Hioki Eki. 
His Excellency, Lou Tseng-Tsiang, 
Minister of Foreign Affairs. 



Exchange of Notes Respecting the Restoration of the Leased 
Territory of Kiaochow Bay. 

NOTE. 
Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of 
the 4:th year of Taisho. 
Excellency, 

In the name of my Government I have the honour to make 
the following declaration to the Chinese Government : — 

When, after termination of the present war, the leased ter- 
ritory of Kiaochow Bay is completely left to the free disposal 
of Japan, the Japanese Government will restore the said leased 
territory to China under the following conditions : 



44 

1. The whole of Kiaochow Bay to be opened as a Com- 
mercial Port. 

2. A concession under the exclusive jurisdiction of Japan 
to be established at a place designated by the Japanese Govern- 
ment. 

3. If the foreign Powers desire it, an international con- 
cession may be established. 

4. As regards the disposal to be made of the buildings 
and properties of Germany and the conditions and procedure 
relating thereto, the Japanese Government and the Chinese Gov- 
ernment shall arrange the matter by mutual agreement before 
the restoration. 

I avail, etc., 

(Signed) Hioki Eki. 
His Excellency, Lou Tseng-Tsiang, 
Minister of Foreign Affairs. 

REPLY. 

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of 
the 4:th year of the Republic of China. 

Monsieur le Ministre, 

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note of this day's date in which you made the fol- 
lowing declaration in the name of your Government : — 

''When, after the termination of the present war the leased 
territory of Kiaochow Bay is completely left to the free disposal 
of Japan, the Japanese Government will restore the said leased 
territory to China under the following conditions : 

1. The whole of Kiaochow Bay to be opened as a Com- 
mercial Port. 

2. A concession under the exclusive jurisdiction of Japan 
to be established at a place designated by the Japanese Govern- 
ment. 

3. If the foreign Powers desire it, an international con- 
cession mav be established. 



45 

4. As regards the disposal to be made of the buildings and 
properties of Germany and the conditions and procedure relating 
thereto, the Japanese Government and the Chinese Government 
shall arrange the matter by mutual agreement before the 
restoration.'' 

In reply, I beg to state that I have taken note of this 
declaration. 

I avail, etc., 

(Signed) Lou Tseng-Tsiang. 
His Excellency, Hioki Eki, 
Japanese Minister. 



Treaty Respecting South Manchuria and Eastern Inner 

Mongolia. 

His Excellency the President of the Republic of China and 
His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, having resolved to conclude 
a Treaty with a view to developing their economic relations in 
South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia, have for that 
purpose named as their Plenipotentiaries, that is to say: 

His Excellency the President of the Republic of China, Lou 
Tseng-Tsiang, Chiing-ching, First Class Chia-ho Decoration, 
and Minister of Foreign Affairs; And His Majesty the Emperor 
of Japan, Hioki Eki, Jusliii, Second Class of the Imperial Order 
of the Sacred Treasure, Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy 
Extraordinary ; 

Who, after having communicated to each other their full 
powers, and found them to be in good and due form, have 
agreed upon and concluded the following Articles : — 

Article 1. The two High Contracting Parties agree that 
the terms of the South Manchuria Railway and the Antung- 
Mukden Railway, shall be extended to 99 years. 

Art. 2. Japanese subjects in South Manchuria may, by 
negotiation, lease land necessary for erecting suitable buildings, 
for trade and manufacture or for prosecuting agricultural enter- 
prises. 

Art. 3. Japanese subjects shall be free to reside and travel 



46 

in South Manchuria and to engage in business and manufacture 
of any kind whatsoever. 

Art. 4. In the event of Japanese and Chinese desiring 
jointly to undertake agricultural enterprises and industries inci- 
dental thereto, the Chinese Government may give its permission. 

Art. 5. The Japanese subjects referred to in the pre- 
ceding three articles, besides being required to register with the 
local Authorities passports which they must procure under the 
existing regulations, shall also submit to the police laws and 
ordinances and taxation of China. 

Civil and criminal cases in which the defendants are Jap- 
anese shall be tried and adjudicated by the Japanese Consul; 
those in which the defendants are Chinese shall be tried and 
adjudicated by Chinese Authorities. In either case an officer 
may be deputed to the court to attend the proceedings. But 
mixed civil cases between Chinese and Japanese relating to land 
shall be tried and adjudicated by delegates of both nations 
conjointly in accordance with Chinese law and local usage. 

When, in future, the judicial system in the said region is 
completely reformed, all civil and criminal cases concerning 
Japanese subjects shall be tried and adjudicated entirely by 
Chinese law courts. 

Art. 6. The Chinese Government agrees, in the interest 
of trade and for the residence of foreigners, to open by China 
herself, as soon as possible, certain suitable places in Eastern 
Mono^olia as Commercial Ports. 



"&' 



Art. 7. The Chinese Government agrees speedily to make 
a fundamental revision of the Kirin-Changchun Railway Loan 
Agreement, taking as a standard the provisions in railway loan 
agreements made heretofore between China and foreign finan- 
ciers. 

When in future, more advantageous terms than those in 
existing railway loan agreements are granted to foreign finan- 
ciers in connection with railway loans, the above agreement 
shall again be revised in accordance with Japan's wishes. 

Art. 8. All existing treaties between China and Japan 



47 

relating to Manchuria shall, except where otherwise provided 
for by this Treaty, remain in force. 

Art. 9. The present Treaty shall come into force on the 
date of its signature. The present Treaty shall be ratified by 
His Excellency the President of the Republic of China and 
His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, and the ratifications thereof 
shall be exchanged at Tokyo as soon as possible. 

In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries of the 
two High Contracting Parties have signed and sealed the pres- 
ent Treaty, two 'copies in the Chinese language and two in 
Japanese. 

Done at Peking this twenty-fifth day of the fifth month of 
the fourth year of the Republic of China, corresponding to the 
same day of the same month of the fourth year of Taisho. 



Exchange of Notes Respecting the Terms of Lease of Port 

Arthur and Dalny and the Terms of South Manchurian 

and Antung-Mukden Railways. 

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of 
the 4:th year of the Republic of China. 

Monsieur le Ministre, 
I have the honour to state that, respecting the provisions 
contained in Article 1 of the Treaty relating to South Man- 
churia and Eastern Inner Mongolia signed this day, the term 
of lease of Port Arthur and Dalny shall expire in the 8Gth year 
of the Republic or 1997. The date for restoring the South 
Manchurian Railway to China shall fall due in the 91st year of 
the Republic or 2002. Article 12 in the original South Man- 
churian Railway Agreement providing that it may be redeemed 
by China after 36 years from the day on which the traffic is 
opened is hereby cancelled. The term of the Antung-Mukden 
Railway shall expire in the 96th year of the Republic or 2007. 

I avail, etc , 

(Signed) Lop Tsenc-Tsiang. 
His Excellency, Hioki Ekt, 
Japanese Minister. 



48 

REPLY. 
Peking, the 2Dth day of the 5th month of 
the 4:th year of T a is ho. 
Excellency, 
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note of this day's date, in which you stated that 
''respecting" the provisions contained in Article 1 of the Treaty 
relating to South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia, 
signed this day, the term of lease of Port Arthur and Dalny 
shall expire in the 8Gth year of the Republic or 1997. The date 
for restoring the South Alanchurian Railway to China shall 
fall due in the 91st year of the Republic or 2002. Article 12 
in the original South Manchurian Railway Agreement providing 
that it may be redeemed by China after 36 years from the day 
on which the traffic is opened, is hereby cancelled. The term 
of the Antung-Mukden Railway shall expire in the 9Gth year 
of the Republic or 3007." 

In reply I beg to state that I have taken note of the same. 

I avail, etc., 

(Signed) Hioki Eki. 
His Excellency, Lou Tseng-Tsiang, 
Minister of Foreign Affairs. 



Exchange of Notes Respecting the Opening of Ports in Eastern 

Inner Mongolia. 

NOTE. 

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of 
the 4:th year of the Republic of China. 
Monsieur le Ministre, 
I have the honour to state that the places which ought to 
be opened as Commercial Ports by China herself, as provided 
in Article G of the Treaty respecting South Manchuria and 
Eastern Inner Mongolia signed this day, will be selected, and 
the regulations therefor will be drawn up, by the Chinese Gov- 
ernment itself, a decision concerning which will be made after 
consulting the Minister of Japan. 

I avail, etc., 

(Signed) Lou Tseng-Tsl\ng. 
His Excellency, Hioki Eki, 
Japanese Minister. 



40 

REPLY. 

Peking, the 2otli day of the ~)th month of 
the 4:th year of Taisho. 
Excellency, 
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note of this day's date in which you stated "that 
the places which ought to be opened as Commercial Ports b}' 
China herself, as provided in Article G of the Treaty respecting 
South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia signed this day, 
will be selected, and the regulations therefor will be drawn up, 
\)y the Chinese (jovernment itself, a decision concerning which 
will be made after consulting the Alinister of Japan." 

In reply, I beg to state that I have taken note of the same. 

I avail, etc., 

(Signed) Hioki Eki. 
His Excellency, Lou Tsenc-Tsl\ng, 
Minister of Foreign Affairs. 



South Manchuria. 

NOTE. 

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of 
the 4:th year of the Republic of China. 
Monsieur le Ministre, 
I have the honour to state that Japanese subjects shall, as 
soon as possible, investigate and select mines in the mining 
areas in South Manchuria specified hereinunder, except those 
being prospected for or worked, and the Chinese Government 
will then permit them to prospect or work the same ; but before 
the ]\Iining regulations are definitely settled, the practice at 
present in force shall be followed. 
Provinces Fentien : — 



Locality 


District 


Mineral 


Niu Hsin T'ai 


Pen-hsi 


Coal 


Thin Shih Fu Kou 


(( 


« 


Sha Sung Kang 


Hai-hing 


(( 


T'ieh Ch'ang 


Tung-hua 


(( 


Nuan Ti T'ang 


Chin 


(( 


An Shan Chan region 


From Liaoyang 






to Pen-hsi 


Iron 



50 

KiRiN (Southern portion) 

Sha Sung Kang Ho-lung C & I. 

Kang Yao Chi-lin (Kirin) Coal 

Chia P'i Kou Hua-tien Gold 

I avail, etc., 

(Signed) Lou Tseng-Tsiang. 
His Excellency, Hioki Eki, 
Japanese Minister. 

REPLY. 

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of 
the 4:th year of Taisho. 
Excellency, 

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note of this day respecting the opening of mines 
in South Manchuria, stating: "J^-panese subjects shall, as soon 
as possible, investigate and select mines in the mining areas in 
South Manchuria specified hereinunder, except those being pros- 
pected for or worked, and the Chinese Government will then 
permit them to prospect or work the same; but before the 
Mining regulations are definitely settled, the practice at present 
in force shall be followed. 





Provinces Fentien : — 








Locality 






District 


Mineral 


1. 


Niu Hsin T'ai 






Pen-hsi 


Coal 


2. 


Tien Shih Fu Kou 






« 


(( 


a. 


Sha Sung Kang 






Hai-lung 


(( 


,4 
'X. 


T'ieh Ch'ang 






Tung-hua 


(( 


5. 


Nuan Ti T'ang 






Chin 


<( 


6. 


An Shan Chan region 




From Liaoyang 












to Pen-hsi 


Iron 






Kirin 


{Southern portion) 




1. 


Sha Sung Kang 






Ho-lung 


C. & I. 


2. 


Kang Yao 






Chi-lin (Kirin) 


Coal 


3. 


Chia P'i Kou 






Hua-tien 

I avail, etc., 
(Signed) 


Gold 
HiOKi E 




His Excellency, 


Lou 


TSENG-TSIANG, 






Minister 


of 


Foreign Afifairs 






of the 


Republic 


of China. 





51 

Exchange of Notes Respecting Railways and Taxes in South 
Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia. 

NOTE. 

Peking, the 2oth day of the ofh inonth of 
the 4:th year of the Republic of China. 

Monsieur le Ministre, 

In the name of my Government, I have the honour to make 
the following declaration to your Government : — 

"China will hereafter provide funds for building necessary 
railways in South Manchuria and Eastern Inner ^Mongolia ; if 
foreign capital is required China may negotiate for a loan with 
Japanese capitalists first ; and further, the Chinese Government, 
when making a loan in future on the security of the taxes in 
the above-mentioned places (excluding the salt and customs 
revenue which have already been pledged by the Chinese Cen- 
tral Government) may negotiate for it with Japanese capitalists 
first." 

I avail, etc., 

(Signed) Lou Tseng-Tsiang. 

His Excellency, Hioki Eki, 
Japanese Minister. 

REPLY. 

Peking, the 2Dth day of the bth month of . 
the 4:th year of Taisho. 
Excellency, 
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note of this day's date respecting railways and 
taxes in South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia in which 
you stated : 

''China will hereafter provide funds for building necessary 
railways in South ^lanchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia : if 
foreign capital is required China may negotiate for a loan with 
Japanese capitalists first, and further, the Chinese Government, 
when making a loan in future on the security of taxes in the 
above mentioned places (excluding the salt and customs revenue 



52 

which have already been pledged by the Chinese Central Gov- 
ernment) may negotiate for it with Japanese capitalists first. 
In reply 1 beg to state that I have taken note of the same. 

I avail, etc., 

(Signed) Hiuki Eki. 
His Excellency, Lou Tseng-Tsiang, 
Minister of Foreign Afifairs. 



Exchange of Notes Respecting the Employment of Advisers 

in South Manchuria. 

NOTE. 

Peking, the 25tJi day of the oth month of 
the 4:th year of the Republic of China. 
Monsieur le Ministre, 
In the name of my Government, I have the honour to make 
the following declaration to your Government: — 

'^Hereafter, if foreign advisers or instructors on political, 
financial, military or police matters are to be employed in South 
Manchuria, Japanese may be employed first." 

I avail, etc., 

(Signed) Lou Tseng-Tsiang. 
His Excellency, Hioki Eki, 
Japanese Minister. 

REPLY. 

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of 
the 4:th year of Taisho. 
Excellency, 
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note of this day's date in which you made the 
following declaration in the name of your Government : — 

"Hereafter, if foreign advisers or instructors in political, 
financial, military or police matters are to be employed in South 
Manchuria, Japanese may be employed first." 

In reply, I beg to state that I have taken note of the same. 

I avail, etc., 

(Signed) Hioki Eki. 
His Excellency, Lou Tseng-Tsiang, 
Minister of Foreign Affairs. 



53 

Exchange of Notes Respecting the Explanation of "'Lease by 
Negotiation" in South Manchuria. 

NOTE. 

Peking, the 2ofh day of the otJi mouth of 
the 4:th year of TaisJio. 

Excellency, 

I have the honour to state that the term lease by negotia- 
tion contained in Article 2 of the Treaty respecting South 
Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia signed this day shall 
be understood to imply a long-term lease of not more than 
thirty years and also the possibility of its unconditional renewal. 

I avail, etc., 

(Signed) Hioki Ekl 

His Excellency, Lou Tseng-Tsiang, 
Minister of Foreign Affairs. 

REPLY. 

Peking, the 25th day of the bth month of 
the 4:th year of the Republie of China. 

Monsieur le Ministre, 

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note of this day's date in which you state : 

"The term lease by negotiation contained in Article 2 of 
the Treaty respecting South Manchuria and Eastern Inner 
Mongolia signed this day shall be understood to imply a long- 
term lease of not more than thirty years and also the possibility 
of its unconditional renewal." 

In reply I beg to state that I have taken note of the same. 

I avail, etc., 

(Signed) Lou Tseng-Tsla.ng. 

His Excellency, Hioki Eki, 
Japanese Minister. 



54 

Exchange of Notes Respecting the Arrangement for Police 

Laws and Ordinances and Taxation in South Manchuria 

and Eastern Inner Mongolia. 

NOTE. 

Peking, the 2DtJi day of the 5th month of 
the 4:th year of the Republic of China. 
Monsieur le Ministre, 
I have the honour to state that as regards the police laws 
and ordinances and the taxation to which Japanese subjects 
shall submit according to Article 5 of the Treaty respecting 
South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia signed this day 
the Chinese Authorities will come to an understanding with the 
Japanese Consul before their enforcement. 

I avail, etc., 

(Signed) Lou Tseng-Tsiang. 
His Excellency, Hioki Eki, 
Japanese Minister. 

REPLY. 

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of 
the 4:th year of Taisho. 
Excellency, 
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note of this day's date in which you state : — 

''As regards the police laws and ordinances and the taxation 
to which Japanese subjects shall submit according to Article 5 
of the Treaty respecting South Manchuria and Eastern Inner 
Mongolia signed this day the Chinese Authorities will come to 
an understanding with the Japanese Consul before their enforce- 
ment." 

In reply, I beg to state that I have taken note of the same. 

I avail, etc., 
• (Signed) Hioki Eki. 

His Excellency, Lou Tseng-Tsiang, 
Minister of Foreign Affairs. 



NOTE. 

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of 
the 4th year of the Republie of China. 

Monsieur le Ministre, 

I have the honour to state that, inasmuch as preparations 
have to be made regarding Articles 2, 3, 4 & 5 of the Treaty 
respecting South Manchuria and Eastern Inner MongoHa signed 
this day, the Chinese Government proposes that the operation 
of the said Articles be postponed for a period of three months 
beginning from the date of the signing of the said Treaty. 

I hope your Government will agree to this proposal. 

I avail, etc., 

(Signed) Lou Tseng-Tsiang. 

His Excellency, Hioki Eki, 
Japanese Minister. 

REPLY. 

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of 
the 4th year of Taisho. 

Excellency, 

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note of this day's date in which you stated that 
"inasmuch as preparations have to be made regarding Articles 2, 
3, 4 & 5 of the Treaty respecting South Alanchuria and Eastern 
Inner Mongolia signed this day, the Chinese Government pro- 
poses that the operation of the said Articles be postponed for 
a period of three months beginning from the date of the signing 
of the said Treaty." 

In reply, I beg to state that I have taken note of the same. 

I avail, etc., 

(Signed) Hioki Eki. 

His Excellency, Lou Tseng-Tsiang, 
Minister of Foreign Affairs. 



56 

Exchange of Notes Respecting the Matter of Hanyehping. 

NOTE. 

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of 
the 4:th year of the Republic of China. 
Monsieur le Ministre, 

I have the honour to state that if in future the Hanyehping 
Company and the Japanese capitaHsts agree upon co-operation, 
the Chinese Government, in view of the intimate relations sub- 
sisting between the Japanese capitaHsts and the said Company, 
will forthwith give its permission. The Chinese Government 
further agrees not to confiscate the said Company, nor without 
the consent of the Japanese capitalists to convert it into a state 
enterprise, nor cause it to borrow and use foreign capital other 
than Japanese. 

I avail, etc., 

(Signed) Lou Tseng-Tsiang. 
His Excellency, Hioki Eki, 
Japanese Minister. 

REPLY. 

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of 
the 4:th year of Taisho. 
Excellency, 
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note of this day's date in which you state : — 

"If in future the Hanyehping Company and the Japanese 
capitalists agree upon co-operation, the Chinese Government, in 
view of the intimate relations subsisting between the Japanese 
capitalists and the said Company, will forthwith give its per- 
mission. The Chinese Government further agrees not to con- 
fiscate the said Company, nor, without the consent of the 
Japanese capitalists to convert it into a state enterprise, nor 
cause it to borrow and use foreign capital other than Japanese." 

I avail, etc., 

(Signed) Hioki Eki. 
His Excellency, Lou Tseng-Tsiang, 
Minister of Foreign Affairs. 



57 
Exchange of Notes Respecting the Fukien Question. 

NOTE. 

Peking, the 2Dth day of the oth uionth of 
the 4:th year of Taisho. 
Excellency, 
A report has reached me to the effect that the Chinese 
Government has the intention of permitting foreign nations to 
establish, on the coast of Fukien Province, dock-yards, coaling 
stations for military use, naval bases, or to set up other mili- 
tary establishments ; and also of borrowing foreign capital for 
the purpose of setting up the above-mentioned establishments. 

I have the honour to request that Your Excellency will be 
good enough to give me reply stating whether or not the 
Chinese Government really entertains such an intention. 

I avail, etc., 

(Signed) Hioki Ekl 
His Excellency, Lou Tseng-Tsiang, 
Minister of Foreign Affairs. 

REPLY. 

Peking, the 2oth day of the oth month of 
the 4:th year of the Republic of China. 
Monsieur le Ministre, 

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note of this day's date which I have noted. 

In reply I beg to inform you that the Chinese Government 
hereby declares that it has given no permission to foreign 
nations to construct, on the coast of Fukien Province, dock- 
yards, coaling stations for military use, naval bases, or to set 
up other military establishment ; nor does it entertain an inten- 
tion of borrowing foreign capital for the purpose of setting up 
the above-mentioned establishments. 

I avail, etc., 

(Signed) Lou Tseng-Tsiang. 
His Excellency, Hioki Eki, 
Japanese Minister. 



58' 

No. 5. 

Russo-Japanese Treaties of 1916. 

In July, 1916, Japan and Russia entered into a public 
treaty, the terms of which were communicated to the British 
Government before signature. The terms of this agreement, 
as published in the Times, on July 8, 1916, are as follows : — 

"The Imperial Government of Japan and the Imperial 
Government of Russia, resolved to unite their efforts for the 
maintenance of lasting peace in the Far East, have agreed upon 
the following: — 

''Article 1. — Japan will not be a party to any political 
arrangement or combination directed against Russia. 

''Russia will not be a party to any political arrangement 
or combination directed against Japan. 

"Art. 2. — Should the territorial rights or the special inter- 
ests in the Far East of one of the contracting parties recognized 
by the other contracting party be threatened, Japan and Russia 
will take counsel of each other as to the measures to be taken 
in view of the support or the help to be given in order to 
safeguard and defend those rights and interests." 

The Secret Russo-Japanese Treaty. 

The above treaty, as already stated, was a public one. But 
at the very same time Russia and Japan entered into a Secret 
Treaty consisting of six Articles. This treaty was first pub- 
lished in the Isvestia, and a translation appeared in the Man- 
chester Guardian on February 1, 1918. 

This treaty was signed on July 3, 1916. It runs as follows : 

"The Russian Government and the Japanese Imperial Gov- 
ernment have, with a view to the greater consolidation of their 
close friendship, established between them by the secret agree- 
ments of July 30, 1907, July 4, 1910, and July 8, 1912, agreed 
to supplement the above-mentioned secret agreements by the 
following articles : — 

"Art. 1. — The two high contracting parties acknowledge 
that the vital interests of both require the safeguarding of China 



59 

against the political domination by any third Power entertaining 
hostile designs against Russia or Japan, and therefore mutually 
pledge themselves each time when circumstances demand it, to 
enter into frank relations based on complete mutual trust with 
one another with a view to taking joint measures for the pre- 
vention of the possibility of the advent of such a state of afifairs 
(in China). 

"Art. 2. — If as a result of the measures taken by mutual 
agreement by Russia and Japan, in virtue of the preceding 
article, war should be declared by the third Power referred to 
in Article 1 of the present Convention on either of the contract- 
ing parties, the other party shall on the first demand of its ally 
come to its assistance, and each of the high contracting parties 
pledges itself hereby, in case such a situation should arise, not 
to conclude peace with the common enemy without the previous 
consent of its Ally. 

"Art. 3. — The terms on which each high contracting party 
is to render armed assistance to the other in accordance with 
the preceding article, as well as the form in which this assist- 
ance is to be rendered, shall be determined jointly by the 
respective competent authorities of the two contracting parties. 

"Art. 4. — Provided that neither high contracting party shall 
regard itself bound by Article 2 of the present Convention in 
respect of rendering armed assistance to its Ally so long as it 
has not been given guarantees by its Allies that they, too, will 
render such assistance to it as would correspond to the serious- 
ness of the impending conflict. 

"Art. 5. — The present Convention enters into force from 
the moment of its signature, and shall remain in force until 
July, 1921. Should one of the high contracting parties not deem 
it necessary, twelve months before the expiry of this term to 
give notice of its unwillingness to prolong the validity of the 
present Convention, the latter shall remain in force for a period 
of one year after it has been denounced by one or other of the 
high contracting parties. 



60 

"Art. 6. — The present Convention shall be kept in com- 
plete secrecy from everybody except the two high contracting 
parties. 

''In witness whereof the undersigned have confirmed the 
present instrument by hand and seal at Petrograd, June 20 
(July 3), 1916; corresponding to the Japanese (date of Thurs- 
day) seventh month and fifth year in the reign of Taiso. 

"(Signed) Sazonoff, Motono." 

[A^. B. — The foregoing is an extract from "The Secret 
Treaties" published in London, being a compilation of the secret 
documents found in the archives of the Russian Foreign Office 
published by the Russian Revolutionary Government.] 



THE CLAIM 

OF CHINA FOR DIRECT RESTITUTION 

TO HERSELF of the LEASED TERRITORY 

^/^KIAOCHOW, THE TSING-CHINAN 

RAILWAY and OTHER GERMAN 

RIGHTS IN RESPECT 

of SHANTUNG 

PROVINCE 



62 

A. — Origin and Extent of Germany's Leasehold and Other 
Rights Respecting Shantung. 

1. The German Asiatic squadron, in search of a suitable 
naval base and maritime harbour in the Far East, had made 
laborious cruises along the Chinese coast and an official German 
Commission had recommended the Bay of Kiaochow as the 
most desirable spot, when the killing of two German mission- 
aries in November, 1897, in the interior of Shantung Province, 
in circumstances beyond the control of the local authorities, 
afforded the German Government the long sought for pretext 
for resorting to force in order to attain their object. Four 
German men-of-war, by order of the Kaiser, landed an expe- 
ditionary force on the coast of Kiaochow Bay and forthwith 
announced their occupation of the territory. In the face of 
imminent danger from the presence of German troops on 
Chinese territory, the Chinese Government was constrained to 
conclude with Germany the Convention of March 6, 1898. (1) 

2. It was under this Convention that China set aside a 
zone of 50 kilometers around the Bay of Kiaochow at high 
water for the passage of German troops therein at any time 
while reserving to herself all rights of sovereignty ; and granted 
to Germany a lease for ninety-nine years of both sides of the 
entrance to the Bay of Kiaochow with a certain number of 
islands. 

3. Germany obtained under the same Convention the con- 
cession to construct two lines of railway in Shantung and to 
develop mining properties for a distance of 15 kilometers from 
each side of these railways. Both the railways and mining 
enterprises were to be undertaken by Sino-German Companies 
to be organized for the purpose, and Chinese and German mer- 
chants alike might subscribe to their share of stock and appoint 
directors for their management. Besides, the Chinese Govern- 
ment was made to engage that in all cases where foreign 
assistance, in personnel, capital or material, might be needed 
for any purpose whatever within the Province of Shantung, an 
offer should be made in the first instance to German manu- 
facturers and merchants. 

(1) Appendix No. 1. 



63 

The Tsingtao-Chinan Railway and branch, 434 kilometers 
in all, was one of the two lines authorized, financed and con- 
structed by the Schantung Eisenbahn Gesellschaft, founded June 
14, 1899, under a charter from the German Government, granted 
June 1, 1899 ; and which had made an agreement with the 
Governor of Shantung, March 21, 1900, covering the detail 
regulations relative to the construction and working of this 
line. It was opened to traffic in June, 1904. 

The Concession to develop the mining properties as granted 
by the Convention of March 6, 1898, was taken up by the 
Schantung Bergbau Gesellschaft, a company which was formed 
October 10, 1899, under a charter from the German Govern- 
ment dated June 1, 1899. The properties developed or in 
process of development by this company were the Fantse and 
Hungshan Collieries and the iron mines near Kinglinchen. 

By an agreement of February 5, 1913, the Schantung Berg- 
bau Gesellschaft transferred all its rights and liabilities to the 
Schantung Eisenbahn Gesellschaft, which thereupon became the 
owner of the mining properties under consideration as well as 
the railway. 

4. The right of protection of the Tsingtao-Chinan Rail- 
way belonged to China. Article 16 of the Railway regula- 
tions (1) made by agreement of March 21, 1900, provided: 

*Tf troops are needed, outside the 100 li (50 kilometer) 
zone, they shall be despatched by the Governor of the Province 
of Shantung. No foreign troops may be employed for this 
purpose." 

Article 26 of the same agreement provided : 

*' Should the Railway Company apply for soldiers to protect 
the preparatory work, the construction or the traffic of the 
railway, the Governor of the Province of Shantung shall at 
once consider the circumstances and comply with such a]:)pli- 
cation." 

As regards the protection of the mining properties belong- 
ing to the Shantung Mining Company. Article 10 of the Mining 
Regulations made by agreement of March 21, 1900, provided : 

(1) Appendix No. 2. 



G4 

"If the Company, in course of prospecting or operating 
mines, or in course of building mining plants, should request 
the Governor of Shantung to despatch troops for protection 
outside the 100 li (50 kilometer) zone, he shall, on the receipt 
of such a petition and after considering the circumstances, forth- 
with comply with the request, and despatch an adequate body 
of troops for the purpose. As regards the amount of contri- 
bution which the Company shall pay to these guards, the matter 
shall be subsequently negotiated. But the Company shall not 
apply for foreign troops." 

In 1900 German troops were sent to and remained in Kaomi 
and Kiaochow, which are inside the 50 kilometer zone, but 
outside of the leased territory. Pursuant to a convention (1) 
concluded November 28, 1905, between the Chinese Governor 
of Shantung Province and the German Governor of Tsingtao, 
Germany, how^ever, withdrew the troops to Tsingtao and recog- 
nized China's right of policing that section of the railway which 
lay within the 50 kilometer zone as well as the remaining por- 
tion of the line westward and enforcing therein the Chinese 
police regulations in force in other parts of Shantung Province. 
A Chinese police station was forthwith established at Kiaochow 
and the policing work of the section within the zone was duly 
taken over by China. 

5. Besides, Germany possessed certain railway loan options 
in respect of Shantung Province. By an exchange of Notes of 
December 31, 1913, China granted Germany an option to finance 
and construct and supply materials for two lines of railway, 
one from Kaomi to a point on the Tientsin-Pukow line, tenta- 
tively fixed at Hanchuan, and the other from Chinan to a point 
on the Peking-Hankow line between Shunteh and Sinhsiang; 
while Germany, on her part, relinquished her options in respect 
of Tehchow-Chenting line and the Yenchow-Kaifeng line, as 
well as the Concession granted in the Convention of March 6, 
189(S, to build a line through the Southern part of Shantung 
Province ; and also agreed to ratify the Mining Areas Delimita- 
tion Agreement of July 24, 1911 (2), concluded between the 
Governor of Shantung Province and the Mining Com.pany. 
Subsequently by an exchange of notes of Jnnt 10, 1914, Ger- 

(1) Appendix No. 3. 

(2) Appendix No. 4. 



65 

many obtained a loan option on any westward extension of the 
Chinan-Shunteh line, on the Chefoo-Weihsien line and the 
Tsining-Kaifeng line. 

Under the Alining Areas Delimitation Agreement of July 
2-1, 11)11, mentioned above, Germany's mining rights in Shan- 
tung Province, which, according to the Convention of March (5, 
1898, extended 15 kilometers or 10 miles on each side of the 
railways then to be built in the Province, were greatly curtailed. 
The Shantung ^Mining Company relinquished under this agree- 
ment all her mining rights except the Tsechuan and Fantse 
Collieries and the Kinglinchen iron mine. The areas of these 
three mining properties retained were surveyed and defined 
with an option for German subjects to supply capital, engineers, 
materials and machinery, if needed for mining operations within 
the areas relinquished. 

B. — Origin and Extent of Japan's Military Occupation of 

Shantung. 

1. Soon after the outbreak of the European War, China 
proclaimed her neutrality by a Presidential Mandate of August 
6, 1914. Two weeks later the Japanese Minister informed the 
Chinese Government that Japan had delivered an ultimatum to 
Germany on August 15, advising the immediate withdraw'^l of 
German men-of-war and armed vessels of all kinds from Chinese 
and Japanese waters and the delivery at a date not later than 
September 15 of the entire leased territory of Kiaochow to the 
Japanese authorities, with a view to the eventual restoration of 
the same to China ; and asking for an unconditional acceptance 
of the advice by noon on August 23, 1914. The purpose of 
this step, as stated in the preamble of the ultimatum, was "to 
see that causes of disturbance of peace in the Far East are 
removed and to take steps to protect the general interests of 
the Anglo- Japanese Alliance." Though not previously con- 
sulted, the Chinese Government intimated their desire to join 
in the contemplated course of action in regard to the leased 
territory of Kiaochow, and ceased to urge it only when they 
found it was not favorably entertained. Japan, failing to receive 
a reply to her ultimatum, declared war on Germany, August 
23, 1914. 



2. The first contingent of Japanese troops, 20,000 strong, 
despatched to attack Tsingtao, unexpectedly selected for the 
purpose of disembarkation, the port of Lungkow, which is 
situated on the northern coast of Shantung Province, 150 miles 
north of Tsingtao. They landed on September 3. In proceed- 
ing across the entire breadth of the peninsula to their destina- 
tion, Kiaochow, which their advance guards reached on Sep- 
tember 14, they deemed it necessary to occupy cities and towms 
en route, to seize the Chinese postal and telegraph offices, and 
to subject the populace to suffering and hardships, including 
requisitions of labour and supplies. The British force which 
cooperated with the Japanese troops in the attack, was landed 
on the other hand at Laoshan Bay, inside the German leased 
territory, on September 23 ; and owing to the fact that the 
distance which separated Laoshan Bay from Tsingtao was much 
shorter and the natural obstacles fewer than wdiat the Japanese 
troops had to encounter in their preliminary advances, it arrived 
on the scene in time to participate in the first engagement with 
the Germans. 

3. In order to better safeguard the neutrality of her ter- 
ritory, China, when confronted with the presence of Japanese 
troops in Lungkow, was constrained to declare, on September 
3 (1), that the Chinese Government, following the precedent 
established in the Russo-Japanese War, would not accept respon- 
sibility for the passing of belligerent troops or any war opera- 
tions at Lungkow, Laichow and the adjacent districts of 
Kiaochow Bay, and reconfirmed the strict neutrality of the 
other parts of China. The Governments of the Powers were 
informed of this declaration by a note of the same date. At the 
same time an understanding was reached with the Japanese 
Government that the special military zone so declared extended 
from the sea to a point on the railway east of the Weihsien 
railway station, approximately 100 miles west of Tsingtao, and 
that the Japanese troops should observe the limits and not 
encroach westward. 

4. Nevertheless, on September 2(^. a contingent of 400 
Japanese troops proceeded to Weihsien and occupied the railway 
station. On October 3, they compelled the withdrawal of 

( 1) Appendix No. 5, 



G7 

Chinese troops from the vicinity of the railway : and three days 
later, on October 6, they, notwithstanding the protests (1) of 
the Chinese Government, went to Chinan and occupied all the 
three stations in the city, thereby possessing themselves of the 
entire line of the railway from Tsingtao to Chinan. Japanese 
troops were distributed along the entire line and its employees 
were gradually replaced by Japanese subjects. The mining 
properties along the railway were seized in the same period and 
their exploitation resumed. 

Meanwhile the military campaign to invest and capture 
Tsingtao proceeded until November T, when the Germans sur- 
rendered the city of Tsingtao to the Allied expeditionary force 
of British and Japanese troops, who entered on November 16. 
The port was opened to trade on January 1, 11)15. 

5. Seeing that with the complete surrender of the Ger- 
mans at Tsingtao, hostilities had terminated and the military 
measures of both belligerents had been abandoned, the Chinese 
Government requested the withdrawal of Japanese troops from 
the interior of Shantuno- to Tsing^tao, the removal of the lio"ht 
railway from Lungkow to Chantien, and the taking down of 
the special telegraph wires attached to the Chinese telegraph 
poles. Unable to persuade the Japanese Government to accede 
to their request, but seeing that the exigencies which had com- 
pelled them to declare the special military zone had already 
ceased to exist, the Chinese Government revoked their previous 
declaration and duly notified the British and Japanese Ministers 
on January T, 1915, of the act of revocation (2). To this com- 
munication the Japanese Minister replied in a note (3) of 
January 9, 1915, stating under instructions from his Govern- 
ment that the act of revocation was "improper, arbitrary, betray- 
ing in fact, want of confidence in international good faith and 
regardless of friendly relations," and that the Japanese Govern- 
ment would not permit the movements and actions of the 
Japanese troops in Shantung to be in any way affected by the 
action of the Chinese Government. 

6. After the occupation of Tsingtao and the Bay of 
Kiaochow, Japan demanded the right to appoint about forty 

(1) See Appendices Xos. 6, 7, 8 and 9. 

(2) See Appendix No. 10. 

(3 ) See Appendices Nos. 11 and 12. 



68 

Japanese subjects to the staff of the Chmese Maritime Customs 
which China had estabHshed under the Sino-German agreenicnt 
of April 17, 1899, as amended December 1, 1905. The Chinese 
Government did not feel justified in acceding to the proposal 
as they had reason to apprehend that its acceptance might dis- 
organize the customs administration, and as when the Germans 
were in control, appointments to the staff of the Chinese Cus- 
toms in Tsingtao had always been made by China. When 
negotiations were thus pending, General Kamio, under instruc- 
tions, took possession of the Customs offices and seized the 
archives and other property of the Chinese Customs. 

7. The Province of Shantung was in this situation when 
the Japanese Minister in Peking, to the dismay of China, pre- 
sented to the President of China on January 18, 1915, the now 
celebrated twenty-one demands (1), divided into five groups. 
The first group dealt with the question of Shantung. Negotia- 
tions extended into May, when on the 7th of that month the 
Japanese Government sent an ultimatum (2) to China demand- 
ing a satisfactory reply within forty-eight hours. At the same 
time reports reached Peking of the increase of Japanese garri- 
sons in Manchuria and Shantung. In the face of these circum- 
stances the Chinese Government had no other course to follow 
than to yield to the wishes of Japan (3). China was constrained 
to sign on May 25th, 1915, among other things, a treaty (4) in 
respect of Shantung Province, accompanied by three sets of 
notes. The Chinese Government felt compelled to give their 
consent, however unwillingly, only in order to maintain the 
peace of the Far East, to spare the Chinese people unnecessary 
suffering, and to prevent the interests of friendly Powers in 
China froni being imperilled at a time when they were already 
engaged in an unprecedented struggle against the Central 
Powders for the vindication of right, liberty, and justice; and 
because she felt confident, moreover, that the final settlement 
of this question as of the other questions dealt with in the 
agreement made in consequence of the twenty-one demands, 
could be efifected only at the Peace Conference. 

(1) Appendix No. 13. 

(2) Appendices Nos. 14 and 15. 

(3) Appendix No. 16. 

(4) Appendix No. 17. 



69 

8. Under an Imperial Ordinance, No. 175, of October 1, 
1!)17, the Japanese Government established a Civil iVdministra- 
tion at Tsingtao with branches at Fantse, Chantien and Chinan, 
all of which three cities are situated along the railway outside 
of the leased territory and of the 50 kilometer zone. Fantse, 
the nearest of the three above-mentioned cities to Tsingtao, is 
separated from it approximately by a distance of 9U miles. 
The Fantse branch of the Japanese Civil Administration has 
even asserted jurisdiction in law suits between Chinese and has 
levied taxes on them. The Kiaochow-Chinan Railway and the 
mines were also placed under the control of a railways depart- 
ment of the Civil Administration. 

9. Public opinion in China, especially in Shantung-, became 
alarmed at the continued presence of the Japanese troops along 
the railway, extending as it does, into the heart of Shantung, 
and at the establishment of these Japanese bureaux of Civil 
Administration aiming, in the view of the Chinese people, at the 
permanent occupation of that Province — one to which their 
hearts are profoundly attached. They brought such pressure 
to bear upon the Chinese Government that the latter deemed it 
advisable to find some means of a])peasing their minds until the 
war was terminated, and until the Peace Conference had met 
to settle all (juestions affecting the future peace of the world. 
Negotiations were opened with the Japanese Government and 
a preliminary agreement (1) was concluded with them on 
September 24, 1918, making a loan for the construction of two 
railways to connect the Tsingtao-Chinan Railway with the 
Tientsin-Pukow-Nanking-Shanghai line at Hsuchow and the 
Peking-Hankow line. In consideration thereof, the Japanese 
Government, in an exchange of notes (2), also dated September 
24, 1918, agreed, among other things, to withdraw the Japanese 
troops along the Tsingtao-Chinan Railway to Tsingtao, except 
a contingent of them to be stationed at Chinan, and to abolish 
the existing Japanese Civil Administration bureaux in Shantung. 
An advance of twenty million yen was made, but the final 
agreement has not to date been signed. 

(1) Appendix No. 20. See also appendices Nos. 19, 22 and 23. 

(2) Appendix No. 21. 



70 

C. — Why China Claims Restitution. 

1. The leased territory of Iviaochow, inckiding the bay 
and islands therein, is and has always been an integral part of 
Chinese territor}-. The nationality has never been in cjuestion. 
On the contrary, the sovereignty of China over the territory is 
reserved in the Lease Convention. Besides, the lease to Ger- 
many in 1898 originated in an act of aggression on her part, 
and was granted by China only under coercion in circumstances 
already described in Part A of this memorandum. The railway 
and mining rights which Germany possessed in Shantung Prov- 
ince before the war were part of the same grant. Restitution 
to China of these rights and the leased territory would, there- 
fore, be a mere act of justice to her in consonance with the 
accepted principle of territorial integrity and of nationality, while 
return of the same to Germany, or their transfer to any third 
power, would be to deny justice to China. 

2. The Province of Shantung, of which the leased terri- 
tory of Kiaochow is a part, and in which the German-built 
Railway, now in Japanese occupation, stretches from Tsingtao 
to the interior over a distance of 254 miles, contains a popu- 
lation of 38 million inhabitants, who are proud and intensely 
patriotic. They are part and parcel of the homogeneous Chinese 
race. They speak and write llie same Chinese language, and 
believe in the sam.e Confucian religion as the Chinese people in 
the other Provinces of China. They meet every requirement 
of the principle of nationality : they are indeed the very embodi- 
ment of the principle itself. Nor is there any doubt of their 
earnest desire to free their own Province from the menace of 
Germany, or of any other Power. 

3. Historically, Shantung is. the birthplace of China's two 
greatest sages, Confucius and Mencius, and the cradle of Chi- 
nese civilization. It is, in fact, the Holy Land for the Chinese 
people. Every year thousands of Chinese scholars, pilgrims of 
Confucianism, travel to Chufou, in the heart of the Province, 
to do homage to the revered memory of the illustrious sages. 
The eyes of the entire Chinese people are focussed on this 
Province, which has always played and still plays a very impor- 
tant part in the development of China. 



71 

4. The dense population in Shantung Province creates a 
keen economic competition. To earn a livelihood is a difficult 
thing- for 38,347,000 inhabitants limited to the resources of 
agriculture in a Province of 35,976 square miles. The popu- 
lation is almost equal to that of France, with a territory, how- 
ever, only one-quarter as large. It is evident, therefore, that 
there is no room for the inflow of the surplus population of 
any foreign Power. The creation of a special sphere of influence 
or special interests therein could lead only to the unjustified 
exploitation of the Chinese inhabitants. 

."). Besides, Shantung Province possesses all the elements 
for the economic domination of X^orth China. Its large popu- 
lation provides a growing market for foreign merchandise, v/hile 
its rich mineral resources and abundance of raw materials are 
conducive to the development of industries. More important 
than these, however, is the fact that the Bay of Kiaochow is 
destined to be at once the chief outlet for the products of North 
China and the principal port of entrance for foreign goods 
destined for the same regions. Kiaochow has indeed been the 
principal port of Shantung for many centuries. Thither the 
products of the Province were brought down in a canal built 
in the year 1200 and connected with Weihsien, the most impor- 
tant market of the interior. Though Kiaochow itself has ceased 
to be a maritime town after the torrents which emptied into 
the bay had gradually filled the northern part, yet Shantung 
now possesses the port of Tsingtao, which occupies a point on 
the coast corresponding to the port of Kiaochow. Reinforced 
by new arteries of trade, including the Tsingtao-Kiaochow- 
Weihsien-Chinan Railway, which is connected at the last- 
mentioned city with the Peking-Tientsin-Xanking-Shanghai sys- 
tem of railways, and being situated on the brink of the Kiao- 
chow Bay which, unlike the Peiho of Tientsin, never freezes, 
but is well sheltered from the winter winds, the new emporium 
is in a position to tap the trade of the whole of North China. 
Nowhere, therefore, is the building up of a foreign sphere of 
inrtuence more dangerous to international trade and industries ; 
nowhere can the open door policy be upheld with greater advan- 
tage to the common interests of all foreign Powers, than in the 



72 

Province of Shantung ; and no country is in a better position to 
uphold it than China herself. 

6. Strategically, the Bay of Kiaochow commands one of 
the gateways of North China. By the existence of the Tsingtao- 
Chinan Railway, which is connected at the latter mentioned 
terminal with the railway of Tientsin and Peking, it controls, 
too, one of the quickest approaches from the sea to the capital 
of the Chinese Republic, one other being the line of railway 
commencing from Port Arthur and Dalny to Mukden and 
thence to Peking. In the interest of her national defence and 
security, no less than on other grounds, the Chinese Govern- 
ment have wished to terminate the German occupation of 
Tsingtao and Kiaochow Bay, and now that, thanks to the 
Anglo- Japanese Allied force, Germany has been expelled there- 
from, China earnestly desires to retain these strategically vital 
points in her own hands. * * 

7. Examined from various points of view, the question 
of the leased territory of Kiaochow with its appurtenant rights 
is susceptible of only one satisfactory solution. By restoring it 
to China, together with the railway and other rights, the Peace 
Conference would be not only redressing a wrong which has 
been wantonly committed by Germany, but also serving the 
common interests of all nations in the Far East. The people 
of Shantung Province are a sensitive people, they resent any 
foreign penetration looking to political or economic domination 
of their Province, and they do not always hesitate to manifest 
their resentment. They resented bitterly the German occupation 
of the Kiaochow Bay and the German penetration into the 
Province of Shantung. They resent even the present temporary 
occupation of the leased territory and the railway by a friendly 
associate and partner in the War, as evidenced in the protests 
of the Provincial Legislature, of the gentry and of the Chamber 
of Commerce. And their feeling is shared by the people in the 
other Provinces of China. The difficulty with which the Chinese 
Government have restrained them from manifesting their oppo- 
sition in a more energetic way than making protests is indicative 
of their profound feelings on the question. It is felt that non- 
restitution might give cause to friction not only between China 
and anv foreisfn Power which was to hold the leased territorv. 



73 

llic railvva\' and other rights of (icniians, hut more particularly 
hetween the people of Shantung and the nationals of such a 
I'ower. It would be difficult to reconcile it with the declared 
purpose of the attack on Tsingtao, which was ''to secure a firm 
and enduring peace in Eastern Asia" ; nor would it he con- 
sonant with the objects of the alliance between Japan and Great 
Britain, one of which was stated to be "the preservation of the 
common interests of all Powers in China by insuring the inde- 
pendence and integrity of the Chinese Empire, and the principle 
of equal opportunities for the commerce and industry of all 
nations in China." 

D. — Why Restitution Should Be Direct. 

In dwelling upon the ground justifying complete restitution 
to China of the leased territory of Kiaochow, the Tsingtao- 
Chinan Railway and other appurtenant rights, the Chinese 
Government is far from suggesting, still less from api^rehcnd- 
ing, that Japan, in claiming from Germany the unconditional 
surrender of the leasehold and the railway rights, would not 
return the same to China after she had obtained them. On the 
contrary, China has every confidence in Japan's assurances to 
her. If emphasis has been laid on the point of complete restora- 
tion to China, it has been done only for the purpose of focus- 
sing attention on the fundamental justice of such a step. 

1. lint of this restoration there are two ])ossi])le modes, 
direct restitution to China, and indirect restitution through 
Jaj^an ; and of the two, the Chinese Government i:)refers the 
first course, because, among other reasons, it is a simi:)ler pro- 
cedure and less likely to give rise to com])lications. It is i)refer- 
able to take one step than two, if it leads to the same i)oint of 
destination. Moreover, the fact that China, participating in the 
glorious victory of the Allies and Associates, received direct 
from Germany the restitution of Tsingtao and other rights of 
Shantung-, will comport to her national dignity and serve to 
illustrate further the principle of right and justice for which 
the Allies and Associates have fought the common enemy. 

2. In asking for direct restitution the Chinese Government 
is not unaware of the sacrifices which Japan has made in dis- 



74 

lodging Germany from Tsingtao, nor of the losses she has 
sustained in life and treasure. For this act of neighbourly 
service so nobly performed by her brave army and navy, the 
Government and people of China feel sincerely grateful. They 
feel indebted also to Great Britain for having cooperated in this 
task at a time of great peril to herself in Europe. Nor are they 
forgetful of their indebtedness to the troops of the other Allied 
and Associated Powers who held in check an enemy who might 
otherwise have easily sent reinforcements to the Far East, 
thereby prolonging hostilities there. China appreciates those 
services all the more keenly because her own people in Shan- 
tung have suffered and been obliged to undergo sacrifices in 
connection with the military operations of the Allied forces for 
the capture of Tsingtao. But grateful as China is, she does 
not feel justified in admitting that her territorial rights could 
be affected ipso facto by a war between other Powers, she not 
having then entered the War, Furthermore, the sacrifices of 
Japan could receive no greater or more substantial compen- 
sation than in the full attainment of her declared object in the 
War, namely, the elimination of German menace to the peace 
of the Far East. 

3. Nor is the Chinese Government oblivious of the fact 
that Japan has been for four years a military occupant of the 
leased territory, the railway and other rights. But military 
occupation pending the termination of a war, it is submitted, 
does not of itself give title to the territory or property occupied. 
It is in any case only temporary and subject to confirmation or 
termination at the Peace Conference, where the general interests 
of all the Allied and Associated Powers in the War are to be 
considered. In the present case, Japan's military occupation of 
the leased territory and the railway has, from the day of China's 
Declaration of War on Germany and Austria-Hungary (1). 
been against the rights of China, as Associate and partner in 
the War, and, in the case of the railway, has been against her 
protest from the very beginning. 

4. It is true that on I\Iay 25, 1915, China concluded with 
Japan a treaty in relation to Shantung Province, the first article 
of which reads : 

(1) Appendix No. 18. 



75 

"The Chinese Government agrees to give full assent to all 
matters upon which the Japanese Government may hereafter 
agree with the German Government relating to the disposition 
of all rights, interests and concessions which Germany, by virtue 
of treaties or otherwise, possesses in relation to the Province of 
Shantung." 

It is to be recalled, however, that this treaty, together with 
another in relation to ^lanchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia 
and a number of exchanges of notes, was the outcome of the 
21 demands imposed on China by Japan on January 18, 1915, 
without the least provocation. China reluctantly agreed to it 
only after having received an ultimatum from Japan calling for 
a satisfactory reply within forty-eight hours. 

Apart from the circumstances under which the treaty was 
made — circumstances which were most painful to China — it was 
in the view of the Chinese Government at best merely a tem- 
porary arrangement subject to final revision by the Peace Con- 
ference, because it dealt primarily with a question which had 
arisen from the War and which, therefore, could not be satis- 
factorily settled except at the final Peace Conference. The same 
view apjilies to the agreen~ent made more recently in respect of 
the Kiaochow-Chinan Railway and other railway concessions 
formerly granted to Germany. 

Moreover, careful examination of the article above men- 
tioned will reveal the fact that it does not confer on Japan any 
claim to the leased territory, the railway or the other German 
rights in Shantung ; it merely gives her an assurance of China's 
assent to all matters relating to the disposition of Germany's 
rights, interests and concessions which may eventually be agreed 
on between Japan and Germany. This assurance was clearly 
subject, however, to the implied condition that China remained 
neutral throughout the War, and therefore, would be unable to 
participate in the final Peace Conference. Any other inter- 
pretation of this article would have to attribute to Japan an 
intention which she could not have entertained consistently with 
her express declaration, as, for instance, in her treaty of alliance 
with Great Britain, of her desire to insure, among other things, 
the independence of China. For to have denied China the right 



76 

to declare war, to sit in the Peace Conference and defend her 
own rights and interests would have meant the denial to her of 
an essential right accruing from her political independence. 
China's entry into the War so vitally changed the situation 
contemplated in the treaty that on the principle of rebus sic 
stantibus, it ceased to be applicable. 

5. Furthermore, since China had expressly stated in her 
Declaration of War that all treaties, agreements and conven- 
tions, heretofore concluded between China and Germany, were 
abrogated by the existence of the state of war between them, 
the Lease Convention of March 6, 1898, under which Germany 
had held the leased territory, the railway and other rights, was 
necessarily included in the act of abrogation ; and all the lease- 
hold rights of Germany might be therefore considered to have 
reverted in law to the territorial sovereign and original lessor 
state. In other words, Germany has lost her leasehold rights 
and now possesses no rights in relation to Shantung which she 
can surrender to another Power. If it be contended that the 
War had not conclusively abrogated the Lease Convention, then 
Germany, because of an express prohibition in the Convention, 
would be no more competent to transfer the leased territory to 
a third Power. As regards the railway, the right is expressly 
reserved to China in the Railway Agreement of March 21, 1900, 
to buy the line back, implying a prohibition against transfer to 
a third Power. 

In view of the foregoing considerations, the Chinese Govern- 
ment earnestly trust that the Peace Conference will find their 
claim for direct restitution to China of the leased territory of 
Kiaochow, the Tsingtao-Chinan Railway, and other German 
rights in relation to Shantung Province, as one well-founded in 
law and justice. Full recognition of this claim, they believe, 
will cause the Government and people of China to feel deeply 
indebted to the Powers, especially to Japan, for their sense of 
justice and their spirit of altruism. It will serve at once to 
strengthen the political independence and territorial integrity of 
China, which the Chinese Government believe Japan and other 
friendly Powers are sincerely desirous of upholding, and to 
secure, by a new guarantee, the permanent peace of the Far 
East. 



APPENDICES 

1 Convention between China and Germany respecting the Lease of 

Kiaochow to Germany, March 6th, 1898 '» 

2. Agreement between China and Germany respecting the Kiaochow- 

Chinan Railway Regulations. March 21st, 1900 -- ^-i 

3. Convention between China and Germany respecting the withdrawal 

of German troops from Kiaochow and Kaomi, Nov. 28, 1905 90 

4. Agreement between authorities of Shantung and Chino-German Min- 

ing Company for delimiting Mining Areas m the Provmce of 
Shantung, July 24, 1911 -- ^^ 

5. Note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the piP^omatic Repre- 

sentatives at Peking respecting Declaration of War Zone, Sep- 
tember 3rd, 1914 ^^ 

6. Note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Japanese Minister 

at Peking protesting against volation of Neutrality, September 

27th, 1914 ^^ 

7 First Note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Japanese 
Minister at Peking protesting against the occupation of the 
Kiaochow-Chinan Railway, September 30, 1914 »' 

8. Note from the Japanese Minister at Peking to the Ministry of For- 
eign Affairs respecting the Protest agamst occupation of the 
Kiaochow-Chinan Railway, October 2nd, 1914 »^ 

9 Second Note from Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Japanese Min- 
i'^ter at Peking again protesting against occupation of the 
Kiaochow-Chinan Railway, October 9th, 1914 i"i 



10. First Note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the British and 
Japanese Ministers at Peking notifying the cancellation of the 
War Zone, January 7th. 1915 ^"-^ 



11 Note from the Japanese Minister at Peking to the Ministry of For 
eign Affairs refusing to recognize the Declaration of the cancella 
tion of the War Zone. January 9th, 1915 



12 Second Note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Japanese 
Minister at Peking respecting the cancellation of the War Zone, 
January 16th, 1915 ^"^ 

13. Japan's Twenty-one Demands January 18th, 1915 107 

14. Japan's Ultimatum to China, May 7th, 1915 HI 

15. Japan's Explanatory Note, May 7th, 1915 114 

16. China's Reply to the Ultimatum, May 8th, 1915 116 

17 Treaties respecting Shantung, South Manchuria and Eastern Inner 

Mongolia and Exchanges of Notes between Chma and Japan, 
May 25th, 1915 - ■ ^ ^^^ 

18 China's Declaration of War on Germany and Austria-Hungary, _ 

August 14th, 1917 - --- • ^-^^ 

19 Exchange of Notes between the Chinese Minister at Tokio and the 

Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs respectmg the construction 
of Chinan-Shunteh and Kaomi-Hsuchow Railways, September 

24th, 1918 ■ ^"^^ 

20. Preliminary Contract between China and Japan respecting Chinan- 

Shunteh and Kaomi-Hsuchow Railways, September 24th, 1918 138 

21 Exchange of Notes between the Chine.se Minister at -Tokio and the 

Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs respecting Adjustment of 
Questions concerning Shantung, September 24th, 1918 14U 

22 Exchange of Notes between the Chinese Minister at "Tokio and the 

Japa^iese Minister for Foreign Affairs for bui d ng four Railroads 

in Manchuria and Mongolia, September 24th, 1918 14^ 

23. Preliminary Contract between China and Japan for building four - 
railroads in Manchuria and Mongolia, September 28th, 1918 143 



78 



No. 1. 



Convention Between China and Germany Respecting the Lease 
of Kiaochow to Germany, March 6, 1898. 

The incidents connected with the Mission in the Prefecture 
of Tsao-chow-fu, in Shantung, being now closed, the Imperial 
Chinese Government consider it advisable to give a special proof 
of their grateful appreciation of the assistance rendered to them 
by Germany/ The Imperial German and the Imperial Chinese 
Governments, therefore, inspired by the equal and mutual wish 
to strengthen the bonds of friendship which unite the two 
countries, and to develop the commercial relations between the 
subjects of the two States, have concluded the following sepa- 
rate Convention : 

SECTION I. 
Lease of Kiaochow. 

Art. 1. — His Majesty the Emperor of China, guided by the 
intention to strengthen the friendly relations between China and 
Germany, and at the same time to increase the military readi- 
ness of the Chinese Empire, engages, while reserving to himself 
all rights of sovereignty in a zone of 50 kilom. (100 Chinese li) 
surrounding the Bay of Kiaochow at high water, to permit the 
free passage of German troops within this zone at any time, 
and also in taking any measures, or issuing any ordinances 
therein, to previously consult and secure the agreement of the 
German Government, and especially to place no obstacle in the 
way of any regulation of the water-courses which may prove 
to be necessary. His Majesty the Emperor of China, at the 
same time, reserves to himself the right to station troops within 
this zone, in agreement with the German Government, and to 
take other military measures. 

Art. 2. — With the intention of meeting the legitimate de- 
sire of His Majesty the German Emperor, that Germany like 
other Powers should hold a place on the Chinese coast for the 
repair and equipment of her ships, for the storage of materials 
and provisions for the same, and for other arrangements con- 
nected therewith. His Majesty the Emperor of China leases to 



79 

Germany, provisionally for ninety-nine years, both sides of the 
entrance to the Bay of Kiaochow. Germany engages to con- 
struct, at a suitable moment, on the territory thus leased, forti- 
fications for the protection of the buildings to be constructed 
there and of the entrance to the harbour. 

Art. 3. — In order to avoid the possibility of conflicts, the 
Imperial Chinese Government will not exercise rights of admin- 
istration in the leased territory during the term of the lease, but 
grants the exercise of the same to Germany, within the fol- 
lowing limits : 



1. On the northern side of the entrance to the Bay: 

The Peninsula bounded to the northeast by a line drawn 
from the northeastern corner of Potato Island to Loshan 
Harbour. 

2. On the southern side of the entrance to the Bay : 

The Peninsula bounded to the southwest by a line drawn 
from the southwesternmost point of the I)ay lying to the south- 
southwest of Chiposan Island in the direction of Tolosan Island. 

3. The Island of Chi]:)Osan and Potato Island. 

4. The whole water area of the Bay up to the highest 
watermark at present known. 

5. All islands lying seaward from Kiaochow Bay, which 
may be of importance for its defence, such as Tolosan, Chalien- 
chow, etc. 

The High Contracting l^arties reserve to themselves to 
delimit more accurately, in accordance with local traditions, the 
boundaries of the territory leased to Germany and of the 50 
kilom. zone round the Bay, by means of Commissioners to be 
appointed on both sides. 

Chinese ships of war and merchant vessels shall enjoy the 
same privileges in the Bay of Kiaochow as the ships of other 
nations on friendly terms with Germany ; and the entrance, 
departure and sojourn of Chinese ships in the Bay shall not be 
subject to any restrictions other than those which the Imperial 
German Government, in virtue of the rights of administration 



80 

over the whole of the water area of the Bay transferred to 
Germany, may at any time find it necessary to impose with 
regard to the ships of other nations. 

Art. 4. — Germany engages to construct the necessary navi- 
gation signs on the islands and shallows at the entrance of 
the Bay. 

No dues shall be demanded from Chinese ships of war and 
merchant vessels in the Bay of Kiaochow^ except those which 
may be levied upon other vessels for the purpose of maintaining 
the necessary harbour arrangements and quays. 

Art. 5. — Should Germany at some future time express the 
wish to return Kiaochow Bay to China before the expiration of 
the lease, China engages to refund to Germany the expenditure 
she has incurred at Kiaochow and convey to Germany a more 
suitable place. 

Germany engages at no time to sublet the territory leased 
from China to another Power. 

The Chinese population dwelling in the leased territory 
shall at all times enjoy the protection of the German Govern- 
ment provided that they behave in conformity with law^ and 
order ; unless their land is required for other purposes, they may 
remain there. 

If land belonging to Chinese owners is required for any 
other purpose, the owner w^ill receive compensation. 

As regards the re-establishment of Chinese customs stations 
which formerly existed outside the leased territory but within 
the 50 kilom. zone, the Imperial German Government intends 
to come to an agreement with the Chinese Government for the 
definite regulations of the customs frontier, and the mode of 
collecting customs duties in a manner which will safeguard all 
the interests of China, and propose to enter into further nego- 
tiations on the subject. 



81 

SECTION II. 

Railways and Mines. 

Art. 1. — The Chinese Government sanctions the construc- 
tion by Germany of two Hnes of railway in Shantung. The first 
will run from Kiaochow to Chinan and the Boundary of Shan- 
tung Province via Weihsien, Tsingchow, Poshan, Tzechwan and 
Tsowping. The second line will connect Kiaochow with I-chow, 
whence an extension will be constructed to Chinan through 
Laiwu-Hsien. The construction of the line from Chinan to the 
boundary of Shantung Province shall not be begun till after 
the completion of the construction of the line to Chinan. so 
that a further arrangement may be made with a view to 
effecting a connection with China's own railway system. What 
places the line from Chinan to the provincial boundary shall 
take in en route shall be specified in the regidations to be made 
separately. 

Art. 2. — In order to carry out the above-mentioned railway 
work a Chino-German Railway Company shall be formed with 
branches in one or more places, and in this Company both 
German and Chinese merchants shall be at liberty to raise 
the capital and appoint directors for the management of the 
undertaking. 

Art. 3. — All arrangements for the above purposes shall be 
determined in an additional agreement to be concluded by the 
High Contracting Parties as soon as possible. China and Ger- 
many w^ill settle this matter by themselves, but the Chinese 
Government w^ill accord favorable treatment to the said Chino- 
German Railway Company in constructing and operating the 
above-mentioned lines and extend to them other privileges 
enjoyed by Chino-Foreign Companies established in other parts 
of China. 

The above article is conceived only in the interest of com- 
merce : it has no other design. Positively no land or territory 
in the Province of Shantung may be annexed in the construc- 
tion of the above-mentioned railways. 



82 

Art. 4. — In the vicinity of the railways to be built, within 
30 li of them, as, for instance, in Weihsien and Poshan Hsien 
on the Northern line from Kiaochow to Chinan and as in Ichow 
Fu and L^liwu Hsien on the Southern line from Kiaochow via 
Ichow to Chinan, German merchants are permitted to excavate 
coal, etc. The necessary w^orks may be undertaken by Chinese 
and German merchants combining the capital. The mining 
regulations shall also be subsequently negotiated with care. 
The Chinese Government will, according to what has been 
stipulated for in the provision concerning the construction of 
railways, also accord favorable treatment to the German mer- 
chants and workmen, and extend to them other privileges 
enjoyed by Chino-Foreign Companies established in other parts 
of China. 

This article is also conceived only in the interests of com- 
merce, and has no other design. 

SECTION III. 

Affairs in the Whole Province of Shantung. 

If within the Province of Shantung any matters are under- 
taken for which foreign assistance, whether in personnel, or in 
capital, or in material, is invited, China agrees that the German 
merchants concerned shall first be asked whether they wish to 
undertake the works and provide the materials. 

In case the German merchants do not wish to undertake 
the said works and provide the materials, then as a matter of 
fairness China will be free to make such other arrangements 
as suits her convenience. 

Ratifications. 

The above agreement shall be ratified by the Sovereigns of 
both Contracting States, and the ratifications exchanged in such 
manner that, after the receipt in Berlin of the Treaty ratified 
by China, the copy ratified by Germany shall be handed to the 
Chinese Minister in Berlin. 

The foregoing Treaty has been drawn up in four copies, 
two in German and two in Chinese, and was signed by the 



83 

Representatives of the two Contracting Parties on the Gth 
March, 1898, equal to the 1-lth day of the 2nd month in the 
24th year Kuang-Hsu. 

Li Hung Chang, 

(Great seal of the Tsung-li Yamen) (In Chinese), Imperial Chinese 
Imperial German Minister Grand Secretary Alinister of the 

Tsung-li Yamen, etc. 

Baron von Heyking. 

Weng Tung Ho, 

(In Chinese) Grand Secretary, Member of the Council of State, 
Minister of the Tsung-li Yamen, etc., etc. 



No. 2. 

Agreement Between China and Germany Respecting the 
Kiaochow-Chinan Railway Regulations, March 21, 1900. 

His Excellency the Governor of the Province of Shantung- 
Yuan Shih Kai, and His Excellency the Lieutenant General 
Yin Chang, upon petition of the Governor of Shantung, espe- 
cially delegated by Imperial decree to these negotiations, on 
the one side, and the Managing Board of the Shantung Railway 
Company at Tsingtao, represented by Mr. H. Hildebrand, a 
Royal Inspector of Prussian Railways, on the other side, have, 
in order to prevent agitation and disturbances of any kind in 
Shantung during the period of building the railway and to 
maintain friendly relations between the population of the prov- 
ince and the Company, agreed upon the following Railway 
Regulations with regard to the line of railway between the 
boundaries of the German leased territory and Chinanfu, sub- 
ject to the approval of the Board of Directors of the Shantung- 
Railway Company in Berlin and reduced to writing in Chinese 
and German texts of like tenour. 

Art. 1. — In accordance with Art. 4, section 2, of the afore- 
said Kiaochow Convention a German-Chinese Railway Com- 
pany shall be formed, issuing shares to German and Chinese 
subjects. This Company shall for the present be under Ger- 



84 

man management. It shall half-yearly notify the Chiao Se 
Chuo at Chinanfu of the number of shares purchased by Chi- 
nese. As soon as the amount of such shares has reached Taels 
100,000, the Governor of the Province of Shantung shall dele- 
gate a Chinese official for co-operation at the seat of the 
Company. 

Art. 2. — Should in future branches of the Administration 
of the Company be established in Shantung, one Chinese official 
shall be delegated to each one of them. 

Art. 3. — Officials or respectable citizens shall be consulted 
upon the location of the railway, in order to take as far as pos- 
sible into consideration the interests of the population. To 
avoid difficulties in negotiations, these shall be conducted on the 
Chinese side by Chinese officials delegated by the Governor of 
Shantung. The technical determinations of the location of line 
shall be left to the Company's engineers. A sketch plan of the 
line's location, done in a scale of 1 : 25,000 shall be submitted 
to the Governor of Shantung for information and only there- 
after land may be purchased. The construction of the railway 
cannot be begun before the land has actually been purchased. 

The purchase of land shall be done peacefully and quickly 
as hitherto, so that the construction of the railway be not delayed 
by purchasing land or by difficulties arising from disputes with 
individual owners. To avoid all such difficulties the above- 
mentioned Chinese official shall act as mediator when land is 
purchased and shall settle all disputes eventually arising. The 
land shall be purchased in an honest way according to the 
locally customary ruling price. , 

The Company shall not be allowed to buy more land than 
necessary for the railway enterprise, and future extension 
thereof. 

Meanwhile the following minima may be purchased : 

For stopping points a plot of land 630 m. long and 70 m. 
wide. 

For country stations a plot of land Voi) m. long and 100 m. 
wide. 



85 

For small town stations a plot of land 850 m. long and 
130 m. wide. 

For stations of larger towns the plots of land have to be 
larger, corresponding to actual importance of the place in ques- 
tion. The land necessary for the supply of earth to construct 
embankments is not included in the foregoing areas. 1 m. is 
equal to 2 feet 9.G inches; 1 foot is equal to 0.338 m. 

Art. 4. — Wherever water courses are met, sufficient flow 
has to be provided for by building bridges and culverts so that 
agriculture may suffer no damage. 

Art. 5. — The road is to be located in such a way as not to 
damage or cut through city walls, fortifications, public edifices 
and important places. 

Art. 6. — Houses, farmsteads and villages, temples, graves 
and above all high-class graveyards belonging to the gentry 
which are fenced in and planted with trees shall be avoided by 
the railway as far as possible. So far as this is impossible the 
local authorities shall give notice to the owners two months 
beforehand and settle with them a compensation of an amount 
enabling them to erect graveyards, etc., of the same condition 
at another place without sustaining any loss of money. 

Art. 7. — In surveying the land to be purchased the "kung" 
shall be used as unit. One kung is equal to 5 official feet, one 
foot is equal to 0.338 m. One Mu is counted to be 360 kung 
or equal to 9000 square feet. 

As to the land tax to be paid by the Shantung Railway 
Company the same regulations shall be applied as in force for 
the most-favoured Railway Company in any other place of 
China. 

Art. 8. — Injuries done to crops during preparatory or con- 
struction work are to be made good by the Company according 
to prices to be settled with the local authorities. 

Art. 9. — The salaries of the assistants placed by the local 
authorities at the disposition of the Railway at its wish shall 
be paid by the latter. These salaries shall not be included in 
the price of land purchased. 



86 

The money for the land is to be paid into the hands of the 
District-Magistrate, who is responsible for the proper payment 
to the different owners entitled to receive the money. 

The District-Magistrate also has to hand over the title 
deeds to the Railway Company. 

Art. 10. — The Railway Administration intending to rent 
houses for offices and residences near the work places shall 
apply to the District-Magistrate who will make the necessary 
arrangements with the owners and will on its behalf conclude 
the contracts. 

Art. 11. — The purchase of material necessary for the con- 
struction of the railway shall be transacted in a fair manner 
and the usual market-price shall be paid for same. If neces- 
sary the intervention of the District-Magistrate shall be applied 
for. 

Art. 12. — The exchange of different kinds of money shall 
always be done at the rate ruling on the day. 

Art. 13. — The Railway Company is not permitted to con- 
struct without special permission of the Governor of Shantung 
other railroads than those mentioned in the Kiaochow Conven- 
tion, including the branch line to Poshanhsien. 

Branch lines connecting coal and other mines and places 
where building or ballasting materials are to be taken, con- 
necting with the main line, may be built without special author- 
ization. It is however understood that previous notice of the 
construction of such lines has to be given to the Governor of 
Shantung. 

Art. 14. — Foreigners, travelling or doing business in the 
interior of the Province of Shantung, in order to enjoy better 
protection, must be provided with passports duly sealed by the 
proper Chinese and German authorities. Chinese local authori- 
ties cannot assume responsibility if such a passport is not 
produced. 

Art. 15. — German and Chinese employees of the Railway 
Company are to be provided with certificates attested by the 



87 

seals of the Railway Administration and of the local Authori- 
ties, in order, when necessary, to prove their official capacity. 

The engineers, when surveying, shall be accompanied by 
an official, delegated by the District-Magistrate. This official 
shall, if necessary by police-force, render assistance in protect- 
ing the property of the Railway Company and the survey poles. 

Persons fraudulently pretending to be employees of the 
Railway Company shall be arrested and punished by the Local 
Authorities. 

Art. 1(). — If troops are needed, outside of the 100 li (50 
kilometer) zone, they shall be despatched by the Governor of 
the Province of Shantung. No foreign troops may be employed 
for this purpose. 

The Governor of the Province of Shantung binds himself 
to take effective measures during the period of surveying as 
well as when the railway is under construction or opened for 
traffic to prevent any damage being done to it by the mob or 
by rebels. 

Art. 17. — This railway, having for sole purpose the devel- 
opment of commerce, shall not, outside of the 100 li zone, be 
permitted to transport foreign troops and war materials em- 
ployed by them. In case there should be war between China 
and a foreign power and the railway should at the time still be 
managed by the said Company, then the Company must continue 
to observe the provision aforementioned. In case certain sec- 
tions are occupied by the enemy and the Company should lose 
its power of management, then the provincial authorities will 
not be responsible for the protection (of the railway). 

Art. 18. — Freightage for foodstuffs and clothing to be 
distributed amongst the distressed during famines and floods, 
shall be reduced according to the rules adopted by the railways 
of Germany and when troops are despatched to suppress re- 
bellions the same is to be applied to the fares for soldiers and 
to the freightage for their war materials. 

Art. 19. — At railway stations, where custom-houses are 
established, the Railway Administration shall make such ar- 



88 

rangements as to assist the Imperial Chinese Customs in col- 
lecting the legal dues. 

The expenses for the necessary buildings, to be erected 
upon application of the Customs Administration are to be 
refunded by the latter to the Railway Administration according 
to agreements always to be made beforehand. 

Art. 20. — The natives of towns and villages near the 
railway shall be as far as possible engaged as workmen and as 
contractors for the supply of materials. 

Art. 21. — Chinese subjects employed outside the leased 
territory by the Railway Company in case of contravention of 
Chinese law are subject to the jurisdiction of the competent 
District-Magistrate. 

The competent District-Magistrate having officially notified 
the necessity of legal steps against such employees, the Railway 
Company shall not do anything by which he may evade justice. 

Complaints against foreigners are to be dealt with accord- 
ing to the proper laws. In such cases, the Railway Company 
on its part shall make an investigation and take disciplinary 
proceedings against the offender. 

Art. 22. — The natives of districts, where the railway 
passes through, shall as far as possible be employed at the work 
and shall be paid for as customary there. 

If fights should occur between railway-men and natives the 
local official will have the right to arrest and punish the guilty. 

The workmen of the railway are absolutely prohibited un- 
warrantably to enter houses of natives. In case of contraven- 
tion they will be severely punished. 

Art. 23.- — The construction of the railway being completed, 
foremen and workmen necessary for maintenance and safekeep- 
ing of the line are as far as practicable to be engaged from 
amongst the inhabitants of villages and towns near the line in 
conformity with suggestions made by the elders of these places. 
These elders will be responsible for the good behaviour of these 



89 

i 

engaged and will furnish them with certificates issued by the 
District-Magistrate. 

Art. 24. — The railway being open to public traffic, its ad- 
ministration assumes the responsibility for any loss of life or 
goods caused by accidents and is liable to pay compensation to 
wounded or killed persons according to the local custom, and to 
cover any loss of goods according to detailed regulations to be 
drawn up and published by the Company. 

Likewise the Railway will be held responsible for damage 
to persons and property by construction trains through its 
neglect. 

Art. 25. — The safety on the line being endangered by 
floods, slips of embankments or breakages of bridges, etc., public 
traffic shall not be reopened before all these difficulties have 
been removed. 

Art. 26. — Should the Railway Company apply for soldiers 
to protect the preparatory work, the construction or the traffic 
of the railway, the Governor of the Province of Shantung shall 
at once consider the circumstances and comply with such appli- 
cation. The amount to be contributed by the Company for the 
troops dispatched shall be the subject of a further under- 
standing. 

Art. 27. — In the German leased territory the rights of sov- 
ereignty are safeguarded by the Governor of Tsingtao. In the 
districts of the remaining part of the Province of Shantung 
through which the railway is running, the rights of sovereignty 
are safeguarded by the Governor of the Province of Shantung. 

Art. 28. — It shall be the subject of further agreements 
when and under what conditions the Chinese Government may 
in future take over the railway. 

The foregoing regulations after being approved shall be 
notified to the Authorities of the Shantung Province and to the 
officials of the railway. Thereupon they shall be duly observed. 

Should it in future be deemed necessary to have alterations 
made of some of the above regulations or to have drawn up 
supplementary rules, this can only be done by mutual agree- 



90 

ment between the then Governor of the Province of Shantung 
and the Shantung Railway Company. 

This agreement is executed in two exemplars each of which 
contains a Chinese as well as a German version of like tenour. 
Each of the contracting parties has received one exemplar. 

Chinanfu, the 21st of March, 1900, 
The Governor of the Province of Shantung. 

Seal and signature of Governor Yuan Shih Kai. 
H. I. M's Special Delegate, Lieutenant General. 

Signed: Yin Chang. 

Die Betriebsdirection der Schantung-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft. 

Signed : H. Hildebrand. 



No. 3. 

Convention Between China and Germany Respecting the 

Withdrawal of German Troops from Kiaochow 

and Kaomi, November 28th, 1905. 

(Translation) 

The Emperor of China has appointed Yang Shih-hsiang, 
Civil and Military Governor of Shantung, and the German 
Emperor, Van Semmern, Civil and Military Governor of Kiao- 
chow, who after communicating full powers and finding them 
in due form have agreed upon the following articles : 

Whereas the German Emperor has, for the purpose of pro- 
moting friendly relations, agreed to withdraw the troops sta- 
tioned at Kiaochow and Kaomi, the following articles are 
hereby concluded. 

Art. 1. — The German troops at Kiaochow shall withdraw 
immediately after this Convention has been signed. 

Art. 2. — One fourth of the German troops stationed at 
Kaomi shall withdraw immediately after the signing of this 
Convention, and another fourth, within two months therefrom. 



91 

The remainini^- troops shall withdraw within the next two 
months during which period barracks and stables shall be so 
speedily built in Tsingtao that the said troops may withdraw 
altogether within this said time-limit. But in case the said 
works cannot be finished within the two months, a complete 
withdrawal shall nevertheless be effected — there shall be no 
further extension of time. 

Art. 3. — From the date of the signing of this Convention, 
no matter whether the German troops at Kiaochow and Kaomi 
have completely withdrawn or not, the railways within the 
surrounding zone shall completely be under the supervision and 
protection of the Chinese local authorities and police officers. 
The police officers shall despatch so many policemen as they 
deem fit but not more than two hundred and forty, to be evenly 
stationed at various sections ; all matters relating thereto shall 
be conducted according to the police regulations prevailing 
beyond the surrounding zone. At some place near the city of 
Kaomi there shall be established a police office with a police 
force of not more than one hundred men who shall, by turn, 
attend to their duty in the protection of the railway and in the 
suppression of disturbances which may arise. But if China 
should station troops in the said place, all matters relating 
thereto shall be governed by the Kiaochow Lease Convention. 

Art. 4. — All the works which Germany has constructed in 
Kiaochow^ and Kaomi such as barracks, stables, drill grounds, 
roads, waterworks, and the like, together wath the foundations 
thereof, houses and the fixtures attached thereto cost, calcu- 
lated at their original prices, $496,388.48. From this amount 
are to be subtracted $5,000.00 as rent paid for the German Gov- 
ernment by the Chinese Government, $21,388.48 expended for 
annual repairs and considered as representing the annual dimi- 
nution of the value of the properties, and $70,000.00 as extra 
reduction ; the net price will then be $400,000.00 at which the 
said properties will be purchased by and reverted to China under 
a separate agreement. The price of the buildings shall be paid 
off in four installments wathin two years from the day when 
the barracks at Kiaochow and Kaomi are handed over. After 



93 

their purchase or reversion, all the buildings shall be reserved 
for educational and other public uses. 

Art. 5. — In case Germany should, in accordance with the 
Treaties, require passage for her troops through Kiaochow and 
Kaomi, and stay there for a few days, a few weeks' notice will 
be necessary, in order that a vacant place may be assigned for 
their temporary stay, free of charge. 

Of this Convention there shall be made four copies in 
Chinese and four in German, identical in sense ; and after they 
have been signed, two copies each of the Chinese and German 
texts shall be filed at the office of the Governor of Shantung, 
and the other two copies each of the said two languages, at the 
office of the Civil and Military Governor of Kiaochow, for 
reference, transmission and observance. 

The second Day, eleventh Moon of the Reign of Kwanghsu, 
corresponding to the 28th of November, 1905. 

Signed : Yang Shih-Hsiang. 
Van Semmern. 



No. 4. 

Agreement Between the Provincial Authorities of Shantung 
and the Chino-Gernian Mining Company for Delimiting 
Mining Areas in the Province of Shantung, July 24, 1911. 

For the purpose of defining the mining rights of the Chino- 
German Company along the railways in Shangtung Province 
and concluding a working arrangement the Provincial Authori- 
ties of Shangtung and the Mining Company have mutually 
agreed upon the following Articles : 

Art. 1. — 1. The Shantung Alining Company reserves for its 
exclusive exploitation the Fangtze and Tzechwan mining areas 
and the mining district from Chinlingchen along the Kiaochow - 
Chinan Railway in a northerly direction for a distance of 30 li 
to Chansftien. 



'tj' 



2. The Company is to prepare maps showing the bound- 



93 

aries of the mining areas it designates for exclusive develop- 
ment. These maps are to form an important part of this 
x-\greement. All mining properties within the specified areas are 
to be exclusively exploited by the Company and no Chinese 
undertakings are permitted therein. 

o. With the exception of the delimited areas set aside 
herein for exclusive development by the Mining Company all 
.mining rights hitherto granted by China to the Company within 
30 li (15 kilometres) on both sides of Kiaochow-Chinan Rail- 
road now in operation, the Tientsin- Pukow Railroad now under 
construction, and the Kiaochow Ichow railroad recentl} sur- 
veyed are hereby cancelled. 

4. Tzechwan Hsien and l*oshan Hsien being within the 
30-li zone of mining rights, the Company originally intended to 
exploit it by itself. Now as an act of special friendship, the 
Company hereby relinquishes its claim to Poshan mines. The 
Tzechwan mining area beginning on the south at Ta Kwei 
Shan passing Lungkow Clien in a northwesterly direction and 
reaching the eastern boundary of Tzechwan, is hereby likewise 
relinquished to the Chinese for their free exploitation. The 
remaining areas in this region shall, in accordance with Article 
1, belong to the mining areas of the Company. 

5. The 30-li zone of the hangtze mining area in W'eihsien 
touches the boundaries of Changlo and Ankiu llsiens and in- 
cludes parts thereof. The Company surrenders voluntarily, as 
a further evidence of goodwill, its claim to the nortlnvestern 
district of x-Vnkiu Hsien. It retains, however, its title to Chin- 
shanwa mining area in Changlo Hsien to the extent of 10-li 
from Fangtze mine in a straight line. 

6. For the purpose of delimiting mining areas the Pro- 
vincial Authorities of Shantung and the Alining Company have 
jointly drawn up following maps: 

1. Tzechwan mining area and the mining area from 

Chinlingchen to Changtien. 

2. The southern section of the Tzechwan mining area. 

3. Mining areas in Weihsien and Changlo Hsien. 

4. General map showing all mining areas delimited by 

this Agreement. 



94 

Art. 2. — 1. Within the mining areas reHnquished by the 
Mining Company in the three Hsiens of Changkiu, Tzechvvan 
and Poshan along the Kiaochow-Chinan Railway Chinese are 
not permitted to undertake the development of the biggest mine 
therein before the year 1920, but they shall be at liberty to do so 
after that year. 

2. In the mining areas reserved by the Company all Chi- 
nese mining shafts that are now in a working condition shall 
be stopped within one month from the date of a formal ex- 
change of the texts of this Agreement duly approved by the 
Chinese and German Governments. 

3. ■ The Chinese Government is still to accord protection to 
the works of the Company in accordance with the provisions of 
the Mining Agreement concluded in the 26th year of Kwang 
Hsu, corresponding to the year 1900 A. D. 

4. Should the Chinese Government and merchants be short 
of capital for the exploitation of the mines in the districts re- 
linquished to China by this Agreement, they shall approach 
German capitalists for loans. If foreign materials and machin- 
ery are needed they shall purchase them from Germany. If 
foreign engineers are to be employed they shall engage German 
engineers. 

Art. 3. — To meet the expenditures hitherto incurred by the 
Company for prospecting mines, fixing boundaries and purchas- 
ing lands, the Chinese Government agrees to pay to the Com- 
pany $210,000 Mex., the said sum being payable within one year 
from the date of this Agreement in two installments. After the 
signing of this Agreement the Company shall immediately turn 
over to the Chinese Government all maps and papers relating 
to the prospecting of these mines and all lands purchased by the 
Company. 

Art. 4. — Chinlingchen iron mine is to be exploited accord- 
ing to the Mining Regulations of the 26th year of Kwanghsu 
(1900). If China desires to establish iron smelting works near 
the mine a joint stock company may be formed, with a capital 
of something like 500,000 taels. Regulations therefor are to be 
drawn up separately at the proper time. 



95 

This Agreement is executed in quadruplicate copies in the 
Chinese and German languages, found identical in sense, to- 
gether with four sets of maps of the mines, to be held by the 
contracting parties. 

Third vcar of Hsiian Tung, 6th month. 29th day, corresponding to 
the 24th day of July 1911. 

Delimitation Cominissiojicrs of the Imperial 
Chinese Government, namely. 

Signed: Su, Commissioner for the Promotion of Industrial 

Affairs at Muken. 
Yu, Expectant Taotai of Shantung, 
Managing Director of the Chino-German ^Mining 

Company. 
German Consul General at Chinanfu, Shantung. 



No. 5. 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Diplomatic Representa- 
tives at Peking Respecting Declaration of War Zone. 

Peking, September 3rd, 1914. 
Your Excellency, 
As all the belligerents engaged in the present European war 
maintain friendly relations with our country, our Government 
has decided to declare neutrality and maintain the same with 
all efforts. Reports from the local authorities in the Province 
of Shantung have repeatedly stated that German troops have 
been engaged in military preparations in and near Kiaochow 
Bay, and that the Japanese and P)ritish Allied troops have begun 
also military operations in Lungkow and in places near Kiao- 
chow Bay and Laichow. It is very unfortunate that Germany, 
Japan and Great Britain, friends of our country, have commit- 
ted such altogether unexpected acts within our territory, creat- 
ing an extraordinary situation analogous to the Russo-Japanese 
acts of hostility in Liao-tung Peninsula in the year of 1904. 
The only way open to us is to follow that precedent, to declare 
that so far as concerning Lungkow. Laichow and places adja- 
cent to Kiaochow Bay within the narrowest possible limits 
absolutely necessary for military operations of the belligerent 



96 

troops, our Government will not be wholly responsible as a 
neutral state; while in all other places within our territory, the 
Law of Neutrality which has already been promulgated shall 
remain in full force. However, within the districts as desig- 
nated above, the administration as well as territorial jurisdicton, 
the safety of the inhabitants and the functionaries, public and 
private properties shall be fully respected by the belligerent 
states. 

While the above is communicated to all other belligerent 
States, I request Your Excellency to have the goodness of trans- 
mitting the same to your Government. 

Signed : Sun Pao-Chi. 



No. 6. 

Note From the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Japanese 

Minister at Peking Protesting Against Violation 

of Neutrality. 

September 27, 1914. 

Your Excellency, 

A telegram received from the local authorities in the Prov- 
ince of Shantung states that over four hundred Japanese sol- 
diers have arrived at Weihsien and taken possession of the 
railway station. 

When the Japanese and British Allied Troops needed a 
military passage in order to attack Kiaochow, our country was 
obliged to prescribe a war zone, and also declared that Japan 
and Great Britain should at the same time observe strictly 
China's neutrality outside the zone. On the 7th of September, 
a despatch received from your Government stated that your 
Government understood, with some difficulty, what our Govern- 
ment meant in that declaration. This ^Ministry further declared 
that the railroad from Weihsien to Chinan should be under 
Chinese protection, and through Your Excellency we requested 
your Government to issue an order prohibiting your troops from 



97 

advancing to Weihsien, or to any place west of Weihsien. But 
now the troops of your country have forced their way into 
Weihsien and taken possession of the railway. Considering 
that the railroad belongs to a Sino-German Corporation, that all 
the railway stations have also been under Chinese protection, 
and in none of them has there ever been any German troop, and 
that Weihsien is in the purely neutral territory ; the acts com- 
mitted by the troops of your country are manifestly contrary to 
the declaration and in violation of China's neutrality. 

Therefore, we request Your Excellency to transmit this note 
to your Government, and ask your Government to order by 
telegraph the withdrawal of the troops, and the restoration of 
the railway stations. Such acts should never be allowed to be 
repeated again, in order that international faith, as well as the 
law of neutrality be observed. 

W^e wish that you will favour us with a reply. 

Signed : Sun Pao-Chi. 



No. 7. 

First Note From the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the 
Japanese Minister at Peking Protesting Against the Occu- 
pation of the Kiaochow-Chinan Railway, September 30, 
1914. 

September 30, 1914. 
Your Excellency, 

Regarding the occupation of Weihsien by Japanese troops 
and the violation of China's neutrality, a despatch was sent to 
your Government, together with a memorandum on the 27th 
instant. On the 28th, the next day, Your Excellency came to 
the Ministry and stated that the troops of your country would 
soon take possession of the Kiaochow-Chinan Railway, where- 
upon we immediately and emphatically replied that we could not 
accept the reasons you advanced therefor. As it is a matter of 
grave importance, I hereby specially make a formal protest. 



98 

The Kiaochow-Chinan Railway has been constructed and 
operated jointly by Chinese and German capitalists, and this is 
clearly provided in Section II of the Kiaochow Convention and 
in Article I of the Kiaochow-Chinan Railway regulations. It 
thus becomes clear that the raihvay is not only the private prop- 
erty of the German merchants, but also partly owned by the 
Chinese capitalists. To regard this line as the public property 
of the German Government is, therefore, a fundamental mistake. 
It is a settled principle that even the public property of a bel- 
ligerent, while on a neutral territory, can not be attacked, or 
taken possession of by the other belligerent, much more so in 
the present case when the property in question is jointly owned 
by Chinese and German capitalists. How can your Government 
have the least pretext for taking possession of it? It has been 
a long while since the troops of your country have begun to 
attack Tsingtao, and the German troops in Tsingtao have been 
isolated, rendered helpless, and entirely and long ago cut off 
from communication through the Kiaochow Railway. Not only 
our Government will never allow the Germans to make use of 
the line, it is actually beyond their power to make use of it. 
Therefore, the contemplated action of your country is decidedly 
not a case of military necessity. 

When the Japanese and British troops directed a joint 
attack upon Kiaochow Bay, our Government was obliged to 
prescribe a special zone. But outside of the zone we are deter- 
mined to maintain strict neutrality, which should be respected 
by all the belligerents. This has been declared by our Govern- 
ment, and accepted by your Government. As to the protection 
by our Government of the railway from Weihsien to Chinanfu, 
the Ministry also made a special declaration, which was accepted 
by Your Excellency. Now, greatly to our surprise, the troops 
of your country have, without any justification, occupied the 
station in Weihsien, and intimated their intention to advance 
westward, and Your Excellency has even informed the Ministry 
that they will occupy the wdiole railway. Our Government is 
obliged to regard both the contemplated and accomplished acts 
as contrary to our previous understanding, as a violation of 
China's neutrality, and as a breach of international law. 



99 

Therefore, we make this formal and solemn protest and 
request, through Your Excellency, your Government for the 
sake of maintaining international relations to order the troops 

outside the prescribed area to be withdrawn as soon as possible. 
Wq wish that Your Excellency will favor us with an imme- 
diate reply. 

Signed: Sun Pao-Chi. 



No. 8. 

The Japanese Minister at Peking to the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs Respecting the Protest Against the Occupation of 
the Kiaochow-Chinan Railway, October 2nd, 1914. 

October 2, 1914. 
Your Excellency, 

I have the honour to say that I have duly received your 
despatches of September 2Tth and September 29th in which 
your honoural)le Ministry made protests regarding the occu- 
l)ation of the Weihsien railway station by the troops of our 
country. These communications along with the request for 
your approval, which I made, under instructions from my Gov- 
ernment, to your honourable Minister in person on September 
2.sth, for the transfer of that part of the railway between 
Weihsien and Chinan to the control and management of my 
country, were telegraphically sent to my Government. Instruc- 
tions have now been received from my Government this day, 
and I have the honour to reproduce the same for your perusal, 
as follows : 

In pursuance of the policy of the Imperial Government to 
definitely uphold the peace of the entire P^ar East, and for the 
purpose of weakening the fundamental influence of Germany 
in the said region, the Japanese-German War was declared. 
The War now declared has for its aim not only the attack on 
the men-of-war and forts of the enemy in the leased territory 
of the Kiaochow Bay, but also the elimination of the base of 
German activities in the Far East, which aim has been repeat- 



100 

edly communicated to the Government of China, and, we hope, 
has been clearly understood. 

Regarding the Shantung Railway, it was the outcome of 
the Treaty of lease of the Kiaochow Bay between Germany and 
China in the year 1898. It was in consequence of this Treaty 
that Germany secured the right of building this railway, the. 
Company of which is entirely under the control of the German 
Government, and its nature is public and in no way different 
from a purely German Company. It is of the same character 
as the lease territory. This fact is beyond dispute, in view of 
its origin, the special charter given by the German Government 
and the way in which the Company draws its funds, 

Moreover a railway from its very nature positively cannot 
be treated one part separately from the other. Although one 
part of this German owned railway is situated west of Weihsien, 
it cannot be held as having changed its character on the ground 
that a part remains in neutral territory. Besides, the aim of 
the Imperial Government is not only to overthrow the base 
possessed by the enemy, but also to cause the control and admin- 
istration of this indivisible railway to fall into our possession. 
In view of the War this does not seem to be beyond propriety. 
It is, therefore, not necessary to secure the approval of the 
Chinese Government as to the execution of this principle. But 
in order to avoid misunderstanding, we have made friendly 
request for approval regardless of the urgency of the situation. 
It is surprisingly beyond the comprehension of the Imperial 
Government for the Chinese Government to be suspicious of 
Japan's every movement. We regret for such a condition. 

Regarding the points misunderstood by the Chinese Govern- 
ment, as shown in the two documents, we point out as follows : 

1° Whether the Shantung Railway is a German railway or 
a joint-interest railway can be determined substantially by the 
special permit given by Germany. As to the governmental 
nature of the said railway, there can be no doubt, in view of 
what has been said above. 

2° If the Shantung Railway cannot be held as being the 
property of a neutral, how can it be said of our violating neu- 
tralitv if it is transferred to our control? Now, China, in 



101 

consequence of the delimitation of the war zone, suggests to 
change simultaneously the nature of the Shantung Railway. 
The Imperial Government cannot see the reason why China 
should do so. Furthermore, the (juestion of delimiting the war 
zone and the question of the nature of the Shantung Railway, 
as well as its control and administration, are clearly separate 
questions which cannot be amalgamated into one. 

3° Although the Chinese Government holds that under the 
present condition the Shantung Railway cannot be utilized by 
the German troops in view of its severance with Chinan, yet 
from the attacking troops' point of view, the Railway being 
immediately behind Tsingtao, and in view of the present situa- 
tion, it is a serious danger to the military operations to leave 
a railway owned by the enemy perfectly free. We are, there- 
fore, compelled to secure the raihvay by all means. Moreover, 
the Chinese Government has often failed to stop the assistance 
of the enemy on this railway, of which there are many examples. 

4° In the documents the Chinese Government emphatically 
declared its readiness to protect the railway between W'eihsien 
and Chinan, which declaration is said to have been agreed to 
by our Government. The Imperial Government likes to be 
informed as to what this refers to. 

Signed : Hioki Ekt. 



No. 9. 

Second Note From the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the 
Japanese Minister at Peking Protesting Against the Occu- 
pation of the Kiaochow-Chinan Railway, October 9th, 1914. 

Peking, October 9th, 1914. 
Your Excellency, 
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your 
despatch dated the 2nd instant, of which I have taken notice. 
But our Government cannot concur in the explanation made by 
your Government of the occupation of the Kiaochow-Chinan 
Railway. 



102 

That the Kiaochow-Chinan Railway is private property is 
beyond any doubt. In Article 2 of Sec. II of the Kiaochow 
Convention, there is the express provision that "in order to 
carry out the above-mentioned railway construction a Sino- 
German Company shall be formed" ; and in Article 1 of the 
Regulations made in 1899 respecting the joint construction and 
maintenance of the Kiaochow-Chinan Railway, it is stated that 
the construction and maintenance of the Railway shall be under- 
taken by a Sino-German Company. All these stipulations show 
very clearly that the railway is a joint stock enterprise of 
Chinese and German merchants. In our despatch to Your 
Excellency on September 29th, we mentioned the above two 
points, to w^hich we call Your Excellency's attention ; but in 
your reply we fail to see why no reply was made to these two 
points. If you wish to ascertain the real and definite nature of 
that railway — whether it is public or private property — those 
tW' o points are essential to the solution of the question ; and yet 
they have apparently been disregarded. We really fail to dis- 
cover au}^ reason for such a disregard. 

2. The protection by our Government of the railway from 
Weihsien to Chinan is at the same time a matter of our right 
and duty. The concurrence of your Government on this matter 
is, strictly speaking, quite unnecessary. It w^as simply out of 
extra caution that more than once we made oral declarations 
to that effect before Your Excellency, and instructed by tele- 
graph our Minister at Tokyo, M. Lou Tsung-yu, to make the 
same declaration to your Government. Since your Government 
did not express any objection thereto, we have certainly the 
right to conclude that your Government has tacitly and justly 
recognized our rights and duty. 

3. During the present unfortunate w^ar, our Government 
has acted in accordance with international law and maintained 
strict neutrality, particularly we have paid special attention to 
Shantung affairs. Your Government in the above-mentioned 
reply alleged that our Government was unable to prevent acts 
contributing to strengthen the position of your enemy from 
being done on the railway. From such an allegation, we 
strongly dissent; and, as there is no evidence produced, we do 
not know to what your Government referred. 



103 

4. Tsingtao has been isolated and rendered helpless ; the 
Kiaochow-Chinan Railway has been guarded by our troops and 
police in the section of 400 li west of Weihsien, and by the 
troops of your country in the other section of 300 li east of 
Weihsien; and, in fact, Tsingtao is so surrounded by the be- 
sieging troops that no possible assistance can be expected from 
outside. And yet your Government said that the situation 
would be extremely dangerous, unless that portion of 400 li 
west of Weihsien was occupied by the troops of your country. 
In fact, we fail to see where lies the danger. 

5. Your country has announced that its declaration of war 
against Germany was for the purpose of preserving peace in 
the Far East. Therefore, only the disarmament of German 
war-vessels and the restoration of Kiaochow have been pro- 
claimed. We have never heard of the so-called elimination of 
the base of German activities in the East. But the action 
sought to be justified in such vague terms has resulted in the 
violating of China's neutrality, and in the occupation of prop- 
erty within the territory of a friendly nation property partly 
owned by neutral merchants. This is entirely inconsistent with 
the previous declaration of your Government. 

Finding the situation extremely regrettable, we are obliged 
hereby again to make a strong protest in the hope that your 
Government will, in compliance with our request made in the 
note of September 29th, withdraw all the troops outside the 
prescribed area, in conformity with the declared principle and 
observance of the law of neutrality. 

Signed: Sun Pao-Chi. 



No. 10. 

First Note From the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the British 
and Japanese Ministers at Peking, Notifying the Cancel- 
lation of the War Zone, January 7th, 1915. 

Peking, January Tth, 1915. 
Your Excellency, 

On September 3rd, 1914, it was communicated to Your 
Excellency, that, as Great Britain, Ja])an and Germany were 



^ 



104 

making- military preparations iii and near Kiaochow, Lungkow 
and Laichow, and as all the belligerents are friends to China, 
our Government was obliged to follow the precedent established 
during the Russo-Japanese War, of delimiting a minimum area 
absolutely necessary for military actions of the troops of both 
parties to the war, and that so far as the delimited area was 
concerned, we would not hold ourselves wholly responsible as 
a neutral State. 

Now, as the hostilities have ceased, and all military prep- 
arations have been entirely withdrawn, it is clear that there will 
be no more occasion to use Lungkow or the places near Kiao- 
chow for military actions. It is, therefore, hereby declared that 
all the previous communications relating to the delimitation of 
the war zone shall be cancelled, and that the original status of 
the said area be restored. 

Wherefore I request, through you. Your Excellency, that 
your Government, in order to respect the neutrality of China, 
withdraw all the troops, if there is still any, from the said area. 

Signed: Sun Pao-Chi. 



No. 11. 

Note From the Japanese Minister at Peking to the Ministry 
of Foreign Affairs Refusing to Recognize the Cancellation 
of the War Zone, January 9th, 1915. 

Peking, January 9th, 1915. 
Your Excellency, 
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your note 
of January 7th stating: that as Great Britain, Japan and Ger- 
many were making military preparations in Kiaochow, Lungkow 
and Laichow the Chinese Government acting upon the precedent 
set during the Russo-Japanese War has delimited a minimum 
area necessary for the movement of troops and for the use of 
the troops of the belligerent States and that now as the hostili- 
ties have ceased and the military measures will naturally be all 
withdrawn it is clear that there will be no more necessity of 
using the said area, and therefore all the previous communica- 
tions relating to delimiting the exceptional area be cancelled, its 



105 

original status be restored, and the Japanese troops be all with- 
drawn. 

The contents of the above note were immediately reported , 
to our Government, from which a telegraphic instruction has 
now been received which states : 

When your Government brought up the matter in question 
for diplomatic discussion, the Imperial Government declared that 
a reply would be given sooner or later, and also courteously 
gave the reason why the reply was delayed ; but your Govern- 
ment has ignored all the diplomatic negotiations in the past and 
now of a sudden performs an act, improper, arbitrary, betray- 
ing, in fact, want of confidence in international good faith and 
regardless of friendly relations. We cannot acquiesce therein 
under any circumstance. 

The Imperial Government deems it necessary to declare 
that even if your Government actually cancels the communica- 
tions concerning the creation of a war zone, the Imperial Gov- 
ernment would not permit the movement and actions of their 
troops within a necessary period to be affected or restricted by 
such act of cancellation. 

The above are my instructions which I have the honour to 
communicate to Your Excellency's Government. 

Signed: Hioki Eki. 



No. 12. 

Second Note From the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the 
Japanese Minister at Peking Respecting the Cancellation 
of the War Zone, January 16th, 1915. 

Your Excellency, 

In reply to your note of the 9th of January, I regret to say 
that there exists much misunderstanding. 

When Japan, Great Britain and Germany, friends of China, 
were making military preparations within Chinese territory, our 
Government, in view of the extraordinary situation, declared 
Lungkow, Laichow and places near Kiaochow, within the nar- 
rowest possible limits, and absolutely necessary for the opera- 



106 

tions of the troops of the belhgerent States, to be temporarily 
a special area within which we shall not be responsible as a 
neutral State. This step was taken with a view to maintaining 
international friendship on the one hand, and meeting the neces- 
sity of the international situation on the other. We made that 
special declaration because we considered it necessary, and not 
because we had any agreement to that effect w^ith the belligerent 
States. As our declaration was an independent act, so now we 
cancel it in an equally independent way — there being no neces- 
sity at all to secure the concurrence of any party. It is really 
difficult to see how you can consider our declaration to cancel 
the special area arbitrary or inappropriate. Two months have 
elapsed since the capture of Tsingtao; the basis of German 
military preparations has been destroyed, the troops of Great 
Britain have already been, and those of your country, gradually 
withdrawn. This shows clearly that there is no more military 
action in the special area, and that the said area ought to be 
cancelled admits of no doubt. It is just because of our due 
regard for international confidence and friendship that our Gov- 
ernment postponed a formal declaration to cancel what ought 
to have been cancelled already long ago. Furthermore, within 
the last two months, we have repeatedly reminded your Govern- 
ment of the desirability of an early withdrawal of your troops 
so as to effect a restoration of order. Notwithstanding all this, 
the matter still remains unsettled to-day. The molestation in 
these localities and the sufiferings of the inhabitants, coupled 
with the fact that the port of Tsingtao has already been opened 
without any more hindrance, have led our Government to think 
that time is opportune for cancellation, and to wait any longer 
would be simply unreasonable ; and after careful deliberation, 
we finally decided to make a declaration to cancel the said 
prescribed area. So far as international confidence and friend- 
ship is concerned, we have nothing to regret on our part. 
Moreover at the outbreak of the hostilities, your Government 
declared the preservation of peace in the Far East to be their 
object. Now, our declaration to cancel the prescribed zone has 
also been made out of our sincere belief in and respect for the 
principle which your Government has been cherishing. That 
such a declaration should be deemed as tending to impair inter- 



107 

national confidence and friendship, is really beyond our com- 
prehension. 

In short, we prescribed a special area simply because there 
existed a special situation created by the acts of the belligerent 
States. Now, as there is no longer any such special situation, 
the raison d'etre for the prescribed area ceases to exist. As 
efforts have always been made to effect an amicable settlement 
of affairs between your country and ours, it is our earnest hope 
that your Government will act upon the principle of preserving 
peace in the Far East, and of maintaining international con- 
fidence and friendship wdiich is really an appropriate and well- 
meant act — so that there shall be no further misunderstanding 
and that a state of complete neutrality in the said area should 
be restored. 

We shall be much obliged if you will be so good as to 
transmit this reply to your Government. 

Signed: Sun Pao-Chi. 



No. 13. 

Japan's Twenty-one Demands, January 18th, 1915. 

Translation of Documents Handed to the President Yiian-Shih- 

Kai, by Mr. Hioki, the Japanese Minister, on 

Jamiary 18th, 19X5. 



The Japanese Government and the Chinese Government 
being desirous of maintaining the general peace in Eastern Asia 
and further strengthening the friendly relations and good neigh- 
bourhood existing between the two nations agree to the follow- 
ing articles : 

Art. 1. — The Chinese Government engages to give full 
assent to all matters upon which the Japanese Government may 
hereafter agree with the Gernicin Government relating to the 
disposition of all rights, interests and concessions which Ger- 
many, by virtue of treaties or otherwise, possesses in relation to 
the Province of Shantunsf. 



108 

Art. 2. — The Chinese Government engages that within the 
Province of Shantung and along its coast, no territory or island 
will be ceded or leased to a third Power under any pretext. 

Art. 3. — The Chinese Government consents to Japan's 
building a railway from Chefoo or Lungkow to join the Kiao- 
chow-Chinanfu Railway. 

Art. 4. — The Chinese Government engages, in interest of 
trade and for the residence of foreigners, to open by herself, 
as soon as possible, certain important cities and towns in the 
Province of Shantung as Commercial Ports. What places shall 
be opened are to be jointly decided upon in a separate agree- 
ment. 

11. 

The Japanese Government and the Chinese Government, 
since the Chinese Government has always acknowledged the 
special position enjoyed by Japan in South Manchuria and 
Eastern Inner IMongolia, agree to the following articles : 

Art. 1. — The two Contracting Parties mutually agree that 
the term of lease of Port Arthur and Dalny and the term of 
lease of the South Manchurian Railway and the Antung Mukden 
Railway shall be extended to the period of 99 years. 

Art. 2. — Japanese subjects in South Manchuria and Eastern 
Inner Mongolia shall have the right to lease or own land 
required either for erecting suitable buildings for trade and 
manufacture or for farming. 

Art. 3. — Japanese subjects shall be free to reside and travel 
in South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia and to engage 
in business and in manufacture of any kind whatsoever. 

Art. 4. — The Chinese Government agrees to grant to Jap- 
anese subjects the right of opening the mines in South Man- 
churia and Eastern Mongolia, as regards what mines are to be 
opened, they shall be decided upon jointly. 

Art. 5. — The Chinese Government agrees that in respect 
of the (two) cases mentioned hereinbelow the Japanese Gov- 



109 
ernment's consent shall be first obtained before action is taken : 

(a) Whenever permission is granted to the subject of a 
third Power to build a railway or to make a loan with a third 
Power for the purpose of building a railway in South Man- 
churia and Eastern Inner ^longolia. 

(b) Whenever a loan is to be made with a third Power 
pledging the local taxes of South Manchuria and Eastern Inner 
^longolia as security. 

Art. 6. — The Chinese Government agrees that if the Chi- 
nese Government employs political, financial or military advisers 
or instructors in South Manchuria or Eastern Mongolia, the 
Japanese Government shall first be consulted. 

Art. 7. — The Chinese Government agrees that the control 
and management of the Kirin-Changchun Railway shall be 
handed over to tlie Japanese Government for a term of 99 years 
dating from the signing of this agreement. 

III. 

The Japanese Government and the Chinese Government 
seeing that Japanese financiers and the Hanyehping Co. have 
close relations with each other at present and the common inter- 
ests of the two shall be advanced, agree to the following 
articles : 

Art. 1. — The two contracting Partres mutually agree that 
when the opportune moment arrives the Hanyehping Company 
shall be made a joint concern of the two nations and thev 
further agree that without the previous consent of Japan, China 
shall not by her act dispose of the rights and property of what- 
ever nature of the said Company nor cause the said Company 
to dispose freely of the same. 

Art. 2. — The Chinese Government agrees that all mines in 
the neighbourhood of those owned by the Hanyehping Com- 
pany shall not be permitted, without the consent of the said 
Company, to be worked by other persons outside of the said 
Company ; and further agrees that if it is desired to carry out 
any undertaking which, it is apprehended, may directly or 



110 

indirectly affect the interests of the said Company, the consent 
of the said Company shall first be obtained. 

IV. 

The Japanese Government and the Chinese Government 
with the object of effectively preserving the territorial integrity 
of China agree to the following special article : 

The Chinese Government engages not to cede or lease to 
a third Power any harbour or bay or island along the coast 
of China. 

V. 

Art. 1. — The Chinese Central Government shall employ 
influential Japanese as advisers in political, financial, and mili- 
tary affairs. 

Art. 3. — Japanese hospitals, churches and schools in the 
interior of China shall be granted the right of owning land. 

Art. 3. — Inasmuch as the Japanese Government and the 
Chinese Government have had many cases of dispute between 
Japanese and Chinese police which caused no little misunder- 
standing, it is for this, reason necessary that the police depart- 
ments of important places (in China) shall be jointly adminis- 
tered by Japanese and Chinese or that the police department of 
these places shall emplgy numerous Japanese, so that they may 
at the same time help to plan for the improvement of the 
Chinese Police Service. 

Art. 4. — China shall purchase from Japan a fixed amount 
of munitions of war (say 50% or more of what is needed by 
the Chinese Government) or that there shall be established in 
China a Sino-Japanese jointly worked arsenal. Japanese tech- 
nical experts are to be employed and Japanese material to be 
purchased. 

Art. 5. — China agrees to grant to Japan the right of con- 
structing a railway connecting Wuchang with Kiukiang and 
Nanchang, another line between Nanchang and Hanchow, and 
another between Nanchang and Chochow. 



Ill 

Art. G. — If China needs foreign capital to work mines, 
build railways and construct harbour- works (including dock- 
yards) in the I'rovince of Fukien, Japan shall be first consulted. 

Art. 7. — China agrees that Japanese subjects shall have the 
right of missionary propaganda in China. 



No. 14. 

Japan's Ultimatum to China. 

Ultimatum Delivered by Japanese Minister to Minister of 

Foreign Affairs at 3 '^o' clock, P. M ., on May lith, 1915. 

at 3 o'clock, P. M., on May '7tli, 1915. 

The reason why the Imperial Government opened the 
present negotiations with the Chinese Government is, first, to 
endeavor to dispose of the complications arising out of the war 
between Japan and Germany, and secondly, to attempt to solve 
various questions which are detrimental to the intimate relations 
of China and Japan, with a view to solidifying the foundation 
of cordial friendship subsisting between the two countries to 
the end that the peace of the Far East may be efifectually and 
permanently preserved. With this object in view, definite pro- 
posals were presented to the Chinese Government in January of 
this year, and up to to-day, as many as twenty-five conferences 
were held with the Chinese Government in perfect sincerity and 
frankness. 

in the course of the negotiations, the Imperial Government 
has consistently explained the aims and objects of the proposals 
in a conciliatory spirit, while on the other hand, the proposals 
of the Chinese Government, whether' important or unimportant, 
have been attended to without any reserve. 

It may be stated with confidence that no effort has been 
spared to arrive at a satisfactory and amicable settlement of 
those questions. 

The discussion of the entire corpus of the proposals was 
practically at an end at the twenty-fourth conference ; that is, 
on the 17th of the last month. The Imperial Government, 
taking a broad view^ of the negotiations and in consideration of 



112 

the points raised by the Chinese Government, modified the 
original proposals with considerable concessions and presented 
to the Chinese Government, on the 26th of the same month, 
the revised proposals for agreement, and at the same time it 
was offered that, on the acceptance of the revised proposals, 
the Imperial Government would, at a suitable opportunity, 
restore with fair and proper conditions to the Chinese Govern- 
ment, the Kiaochow territory, in the acquisition of which the 
Imperial Government had made a great sacrifice. 

On the first of May, the Chinese Government delivered the 
reply to the revised proposals of the Japanese Government, 
which is contrary to the expectations of the Imperial Govern- 
ment. The Chinese Government not only did not give a careful 
consideration to the revised proposals, but even with regard to 
the offer of the Japanese Government, to restore Kiaochow to 
the Chinese Government, the latter did not manifest the least 
appreciation of Japan's good will and difficulties. 

From the commercial and military points of view, Kiao- 
chow is an important place, in the acquisition of which the 
Japanese Empire sacrificed much blood and money, and, after 
the acquisition, the Empire incurs no obligation to restore it to 
China. But with the object of increasing the future friendly 
relations of the two countries, she went to the extent of pro- 
posing its restoration, yet to her great regret, the Chinese 
Government did not take into consideration the good intention 
of Japan, and manifest appreciation of her difficulties. Further- 
more, the Chinese Government not only ignored the friendly 
feelings of the Imperial Government offering the restoration of 
Kiaochow Bay, but also in replying to the revised proposals 
they even demanded its unconditional restoration ; and again 
China demanded that Japan should bear the responsibility of 
paying indemnity for all the unavoidable losses and damages 
resulting from Japan's military operations at Kiaochow ; and 
still further in connection with the territory of Kiaochow, China 
advanced other demands and declared that she has the right of 
participation at the future peace conference to be held between 
Japan and Germany. Although China is fully aware that the 
unconditional indemnification for the unavoidable losses and 
damages can never be tolerated by Japan, yet she purposely 



113 

advanced these demands and declared that this reply was final 
and decisive. 

Since Japan could not tolerate such demands, the settle- 
ment of the other question, however compromising" it may be, 
would not be to her interest. The consequence is that the 
present reply of the Chinese Government is, on the whole, vague 
and meaningless. 

Furthermore, the reply of the Chinese Government to the 
other proposals in the revised list of the Imperial Government, 
such as South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia, where 
Japan particularly has geographical, political, commercial, indus- 
trial, and strategic relations, as recognized by all the nations, 
and made more remarkable in consequence of the two wars in 
which Japan was engaged, the Chinese Government overlooks 
these facts, and does not respect Japan's position in that place. 
The Chinese Government even freely altered those articles wdiich 
the Imperial Government, in a compromising spirit, have formu- 
lated in accordance with the statement of the Chinese Repre- 
sentatives, thereby making the statements of the Representatives 
an empty talk ; or, on seeing them conceding with the one hand, 
and withholding wdth the other, it is very difficult to attribute 
faithfulness and sincerity to the Chinese authorities. 

As regards the articles relating to the employment of 
advisers, the establishment of schools and hospitals, the supply 
of arms and ammunition, and the establishment of arsenal, and 
railway concessions in South China, in the revised proposals, 
they are either proposed with the proviso that 'the consent of 
the Power concerned must first be obtained, or they are merely 
to be recorded in the minutes in accordance with the statement 
of the Chinese delegates, and thus they are not in the least in 
conflict either with the Chinese sovereignty, or her treaties with 
the Foreign Powers. Yet the Chinese Government, in their 
reply to the proposals, alleging that these proposals are incom- 
patible with their sovereign rights, and the Treaties with the 
F'oreign Pow^ers, defeat the expectations of the Imperial Gov- 
ernment. In spite of such attitude of the Chinese Government, 
the Imperial Government, though regretting to see that there 
is no room for further negotiation, yet warmly attached to the 
preservation of the peace of the Far East, is still hoping for 



114 

a satisfactory settlement in order to avoid the disturbance of 
the relations. 

So in spite of the circumstances which admitted of no 
patience, they have reconsidered the feelings of the Government 
of their neighboring- country, and with the exception of the 
article relating to Fukien, which is to be the subject of an 
exchange of notes, as has already been agreed upon by the 
representatives of both nations, will undertake to detach the 
Group V from the present negotiations and discuss it separately 
in the future. Therefore, the Chinese Government should appre- 
ciate the friendly feelings of the Imperial Government by imme- 
diately accepting, without any alteration, all the articles of 
Group I, II, III, and IV, and the exchange of notes in con- 
nection with Fukien Province in Group V, as contained in the 
revised proposals presented on the 26th of April. 

The Imperial Government hereby again offer their advice 
and hope that the Chinese Government, upon this advice, will 
give a satisfactory reply by 6 o'clock P. M., on the 9th day of 
May. It is hereby declared that if no satisfactory reply is 
received before or at the designated time, the Imperial Govern- 
ment will take steps they may deem necessary. 



No. 15. 

Japan's Explanatory Note, May 7th, 1915. 

Explanatory Note Accompanying Memorandum Delivered to 

the Minister of Foreign Affairs by the Japanese 

Minister on the Seventh Day of May, 1915. 

1. With the exception of the question of Fukien to be 
arranged by an exchange of notes, the five articles postponed 
for later negotiations refer to (a) the employment of advisers, 
{b) the establishment of schools and hospitals, (c) the railway 
concessions in South China, {d) the supply of arms and ammu- 
nition and the establishment of arsenals, {e) the propagation of 
Buddhism. 

2. The acceptance by the Chinese Government of the 
article relating to Fukien may be either in the form as proposed 



115 

by the Minister of Japan on the 2Gth of April or in that con- 
tained in the Reply of the Chinese Government of ^lay 1st. 
Although the Ultimatum calls for the immediate acceptance by 
China of the modified proposals presented on April 2()th, without 
alteration, but it should be noted that it n:crely states the prin- 
ciple and does not apply to this article and Articles 1 and 5 of 
this note. 

o. If the Chinese Government accept all the articles as 
demanded in the Ultimatum the ofifer of the Japanese Govern- 
ment to restore Kiaochow to China made on the '^fJth of April 
will still hold good. 

4. Article 2 of Group II relating to the lease or purchase 
of land, the terms "lease and purchase" may be replaced by 
these terms "temporary lease" and ''perpetual lease" or "lease 
on consultations" which means a long-term lease with its uncon- 
ditional renewal. 

Article 4 of Group II relating to the approval of laws and 
ordinances and local taxes by the Japanese Consul may form 
the subject of a secret agreement. 

5. The phrase "to consult with the Japanese Government" 
in connection with questions of pledging the local taxes for 
raising loans and the loans for construction of railways, in 
Eastern Inner Mongolia, which is similar to the agreement in 
Manchuria relating to the matters of the same kind, may be 
replaced by the phrase "to consult with the Japanese capitalists." 

The article relating to the opening of trade marts in East- 
ern Inner Mongolia in respect to location and regulations, may, 
following the precedent set in Shantung, be the subject of an 
exchange of notes. 

(). I^>om the phrase "those interested in the Company" in 
Group III of the revised list of demands, the words "those 
interested in" may be deleted. 

7. Hie Japanese version of the Formal Agreement and its 
annexes shall be official text or both the Chinese and Japanese 
shall be official texts. 



116 

No. 16. 
China's Reply to the Uhimatum. 

The Reply of the Chinese Government to the Ultimatum of the 

Japanese Government, Delivered to the Japanese Minister 

of Foreign Affairs on the 8th of May, 11)15. 

On the 7th of this month, at three o'clock P. M., the 
Chinese Government received an Ultimatum from the Japanese 
Government together with an Explanatory Note of seven Arti- 
cles. The Ultimatum concluded with the hope that the Chinese 
Government up to 6 o'clock P. M. on the 9th of May, will 
give a satisfactory reply, and it is hereby declared that if no 
satisfactory reply is received before or at the designated time, 
the Japanese Government will take steps she may deem nec- 
essary. 

The Chinese Government with a view to preserving the 
peace of the Far East, hereby accepts, with the exception of 
those five articles of Group V, postponed for later negotiation, 
all the articles of Groups I, II, III and IV and the exchange 
of notes in connection with Fukien Province in Group V, as 
contained in the revised proposals presented on the 26th of April 
and in accordance with the Explanatory Note of seven articles 
accompanying the Ultimatum of the Japanese Government with 
the hope that thereby all outstanding questions are settled, so 
that the cordial relationship between the two countries may be 
further consolidated. The Japanese Minister is hereby requested 
to appoint a day to call at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to 
make the literary improvement of the text and sign the Agree- 
ment as soon as possible. 



No. 17. 

Treaties Respecting Shantung, South Manchuria and Eastern 

Inner MongoHa and Exchanges of Notes Between 

China and Japan, May 25th, 1915. 

(Translated from the Chinese.) 

Treaty Respecting the Province of Shantung. 

His Excellency the President of the Republic of China and 
His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, having resolved to conclude 



117 

a Treaty with a view to the maintenance of general peace in 
the Extreme East and the further strengthening- of the relations 
of friendship, and good neighbourhood now existing between the 
two nations, have for that purpose named as their Plenipo- 
tentiaries, that is to say : 

His Excellency the President of the Republic of China, Lou 
Tseng-tsiang, Chung-ching, First Class Chia Ho Decoration, 
^linister of Foreign Affairs. 

And His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, Hioki Eki, Jushii, 
Second Class 6f the Imperial Order of the Sacred Treasure, 
Minister Plenipotentiary, and Envoy Extraordinary : 

Who, after having communicated to each other their full 
powers and found them to be in good and due form, have 
agreed upon and concluded the following articles : 

Art. 1. — The Chinese Government ag"rees to give full assent 
to all matters upon which the Japanese Government may here- 
after agree with the German Government relating to the dis- 
position of all rights, interests and concessions which Germany, 
by virtue of treaties or otherwise, possesses in relation to the 
Province of Shantung. 

Art. 2. — The Chinese Government agrees that as regards 
the railway to be built by China herself from Chefoo or Lung- 
kow to connect with the Kiaochow-Chinanfu Railway, if Ger- 
many abandons the privilege of financing the Chefoo- Weihsien 
line China will approach Japanese capitalists to negotiate for 
a loan. 

Art. 3. — The Chinese Government agrees in the interest 
of trade and for the residence of foreigners, to open by China 
herself, as soon as possible, certain suitable places in the Prov- 
ince of Shantung as Commercial Ports. 

Art. 4. — The present treaty shall come into force on day 
of its signature. 

The present treaty shall be ratified by His Excellency the 

President of the Republic of China, and His Majesty the 

Emperor of Japan, and the ratification thereof shall be ex- 
changed at Tokyo as soon as possible. 



118 

In witness whereof, the respective Plenipotentiaries of the 
High Contracting Parties have signed and sealed the present 
Treaty, two copies in the Chinese language, and two in Japanese. 

Done at Peking this twenty-fifth day of the fifth month of 
the fourth year of the Republic of China, corresponding to the 
same day of the same month of the fourth year of Taisho. 

Exchange of Notes Respecting Shantung. 

Peking, the 25fh day of the 5tji month of 
the 4:th year of the Republic of China. 
Monsieur le ]\Iinistre, 

In the name of the Chinese Government I have the honour 
to make the following declaration to your Government: "Within 
the Province of Shantung or along its coast no territory or 
island will be leased or ceded to any foreign Power under any 
pretext." 

I avail, etc., 

Signed: Lou Tseng-Tsiang. 
His Excellency, Hioki Eki, 
Japanese Minister. 

REPLY. 

Peking, the 2hth day of the ofh month of 
the -Uh year of Taisho. 
Excellency, 

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note of this day's date in which you made the 
following declaration in the name of the Chinese Government : 
"Within the Province of Shantung or along its coast no terri- 
tory or island will be leased or ceded to any foreign Power 
under any pretext." 

In reply I beg to state that I have taken note of this 
declaration. 

I avail, etc.. 

Signed : Hioki Eki. 
His Excellency, Lou Tseng-Tsiang, 
Minister of F^oreign AfTairs. 



119 

Exchange of Notes Respecting the Opening of Ports 

in Shantung. 

Peking, the 2otli day of the hth month of 
the 4:th year of the Republic of China. 

Monsieur le AIinistre, 

I have the honour to state that the places which ought to 
be opened as Commercial Ports by China herself, as provided 
in Article 3 of the Treaty respecting the Province of Shantung 
signed this day, will be selected and the regulations therefor 
will be drawn up, by the Chinese Government itself, a decision 
concerning which will be made after consulting the Minister of 
Japan. 

I avail, etc., 

Signed : Lou Tseno-Tsiang. 

His Excellency, Hioki Eki, 
Japanese Minister. 

REPLY. 

Peking, the 2Dth day of the 5th niontJi of 
the Ath year of Taisho. 

Excellency, 

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note of this day's date in which you stated "that 
the i)laces which ought to be opened as Commercial Ports by 
China herself, as provided in Article 3 of the Treaty respecting 
the Province of Shantung signed this day, will be selected and 
the regulations therefor will be drawn up by the Chinese Gov- 
ernment itself, a decision concerning which wdll be made after 
consulting the Minister of Japan.'' 

In reply, I beg to state that I have taken note of the same. 

I avail, etc., 

Signed : Hioki Eki. 

His Excellency, Lou Tseng-Tsiang, 
Minister of Foreign Afifairs. 



120 

Exchange of Notes Respecting the Restoration of the 
Leased Territory of Kiaochow Bay. 

Peking^ the 2bth day of the 5th month of 
the 4:th year of Taisho. 
Excellency, 
In the name of my Government I have the honour to make 
the following declaration to the Chinese Government: 

When, after the termination of the present war, the leased 
territory of Kiaochow Bay is completely left to the free disposal 
of Japan, the Japanese Government will restore the said leased 
territory to China under the following conditions : 

1. The whole of Kiaochow Bay to be opened as a Com- 
mercial Port. 

2. A concession under the exclusive jurisdiction of Japan 
to be established at a place designated by the Japanese Govern- 
ment. 

3. If the foreign Powers desire it, an international con- 
cession may be established. 

4. As regards the disposal to be made of the buildings and 
properties of Germany and the conditions and procedure relating 
thereto, the Japanese Government and the Chinese Government 
shall arrange the matter by mutual agreement before the 
restoration. 

I avail, etc., 

Signed : Hioki Eki. 

His Excellency, Lou Tseng-Tslvng, 
Minister of Foreign Affairs. 

REPLY. 

Peking^ the 25th day of the 5th month of 
the 4:th year of the Republic of China. 
Monsieur le Ministre, 

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note of this day's date in which you made the 
following declaration in the name of your Government: 

"When, after the termination of the present war, the leased 
territory of Kiaochow Bay is completely left to the free disposal 



121 

of Japan, the Japanese Government will restore the said leased 
territory to China under the following conditions : 

1. The whole of Kiaochow Bay to be opened as a Com- 
mercial Port. 

2. A concession under the exclusive jurisdiction of japan 
to be established at a place designated by the Japanese Govern- 
ment. 

3. If the foreign Powers desire it, an international con- 
cession may be established. 

4. As regards the disposal to be made of the buildings and 
properties of Germany and the conditions and procedure relating 
thereto, the Japanese Government and the Chinese Govern- 
ment shall arrange the matter by mutual agreement before the 
restoration." 

In reply, I beg to state that I have taken note of this 
declaration. 

I avail, etc., 

Signed: Lou Tseng-Tsiang. 
His Excellency, Hioki Eki, 
Japanese Minister. 

Treaty Respecting South Manchuria and Eastern Inner 

Mongolia. 

His Excellency the President of the Republic of China and 
His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, having resolved to conclude 
a Treaty with a view to developing their economic relations in 
South ^Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia, have for that 
purpose named as their Plenipotentiaries, that is to say : 

His Excellency the President of the Republic of China, 
Lou Tseng-tsiang, Chung-ching, First Class Chia-ho Decoration, 
and Minister of Foreign Affairs; and His Majesty the Emperor 
of Japan, Hioki Eki, Jushii, Second Class of the Imperial Order 
of the Sacred Treasure, Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy 
Extraordinary. 

Who, after having communicated to each other their full 
jjowers, and found them to be in good and due form, have 
agreed upon and concluded the following Articles : 



122 

Art. 1. — The two High Contracting Parties agree that the 
term of lease of Port Arthur and Dahiy and the terms of the 
South Manchurian Railway and the Antung^-Mukden Railwav, 
shall be extended to 99 years. 

Art. 2. — Japanese subjects in South Manchuria may, by 
negotiation, lease land necessary for erecting suitable buildings 
for trade and manufacture or for prosecuting agricultural enter- 
prises. 

Art. 3. — Japanese subjects shall be free to reside and travel 
in South Manchuria and to engage in business and manufacture 
of any kind whatsoever. 

Art. 4. — In the event of Japanese and Chinese desiring 
jointly to undertake agricultural enterprises and industries inci- 
dental thereto, the Chinese Government may give its permission. 

Art. 5. — The Japanese subjects referred to in the preceding 
three articles, besides being required to register with the local 
Authorities passports which they must procure under the exist- 
ing regulations, shall also submit to the police law and ordi- 
nances and taxation of China. 

Civil and criminal cases in which the defendants are Jap- 
anese shall be tried and adjudicated by the Japanese Consul; 
those in which the defendants are Chinese shall be tried and 
adjudicated by Chinese Authorities. In either case an officer 
may be deputed to the court to attend the proceedings. But 
mixed civil cases between Chinese and Japanese relating to land 
shall be tried and adjudicated by delegates of both nations con- 
jointly in accordance with Chinese law and local usage. 

When, in future, the judicial system in the said region is 
completely reformed, all civil and criminal cases concerning 
Japanese subjects shall be tried and adjudicated entirely by 
Chinese law courts. 

Art. 6. — The Chinese Government agrees, in the interest 
of trade and for the residence of foreigners, to open by China 
herself, as soon as possible, certain suitable places in Eastern 
Inner Mongolia as Commercial Ports. 

Art. 7. — The Chinese Government agrees speedily to make 



123 

a fundamental revision of the Kirin-Changchun Railway I.oan- 
Agreement, taking as a standard the provisions in railway agree- 
ments made heretofore between China and foreign financiers. 

When in future, more advantageous terms than those in 
. existing railway loan agreements are granted to foreign finan- 
ciers in connection with railway loans, the above agreement 
shall again be revised in accordance with Japan's wishes. 

Art. 8. — All existing treaties between China and Ja])an 
relating to Manchuria shall, except where otherwise provided 
for ])\' this Treaty, remain in force. 

Art. 9. — The present Treaty shall come into force on the 
date of its signature. The present Treaty shall be ratified by 
His Excellency the President of the Republic of China and His 
Majesty the Emperor of Japan, and the ratifications thereof 
shall be exchanged at Tokio as soon as possible. 

In witness whereof, the respective Plenipotentiaries of the 
two High Contracting Parties have signed and sealed the 
present Treaty, two copies in the Chinese language, and two in 
Japanese. 

Done at Peking this twenty-fifth day of the fifth month of 
the fourth \'ear of the Republic of China, corresponding to the 
same day of the same month of the fourth year of Taisho. 
Exchange of Notes Respecting the Terms of Lease of Port 

Arthur and Dalny and the Terms of South 
Manchurian and Antung-Mukden Railways. 

Peking, the 25tli day of the ^)th month of 
the 4cth year of the Republic of China. 
Monsieur le AIinistre, 

I have the honor to state that, respecting the provisions 
contained in Article 1 of the Treaty relating to South Manchuria 
and Eastern Inner Mongolia, signed this day, the term of lease 
of Port Arthur and Dalny shall expire in the SlUh year of the 
Republic or 199T. The date for restoring the South Manchurian 
Railway to China shall fall due in the 91st year of the Republic 
or 2002. Article 21 in the original South Manchurian Railway 
Agreement providing that it may be redeemed by China after 



124 

36 years from the day on which the traffic is opened is hereby 
cancelled. The term of the Antungv]\Iiikden Railway shall 
expire in the 96th year of the Republic or 2007. 

I avail, etc., 

Signed : Lou Tseng-Tsiang. 
His Excellency, Hioki Eki, 
Japanese Minister. 

REPLY. 

Peking, the 2oth day of the oth month of 
the 4:th year of Taisho. 
Excellency, 

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note of this day's date in which you stated that 
"respecting the provisions contained in Article 1 of the Treaty 
relating to South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia, 
signed this day, the term of lease of Port Arthur and Dalny 
shall expire in the 86th year of the Republic or 1997. The date 
for restoring the South Manchurian Railway to China shall fall 
due in the 91st year of the Republic or 2002. Article 21 in the 
original South Manchurian Railway Agreement providing that 
it may be redeemed by China after 36 years from the day on 
which the traffic is opened, is hereby cancelled. The term of 
the Antung-Mukden Railway shall expire in the 96th year of 
the Republic or 2007." 

In reply I beg to state that I have taken note of the same. 

I avail, etc. 

Signed : Hioki Eki. 

His Excellency, Lou Tseng-Tsiang, 
Minister of Foreign Affairs. 

Exchange of Notes Respecting the Opening of Ports in 
Eastern Inner Mongolia. 

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of 
the 4:th year of the Republic of China. 
Monsieur le Ministre, 
I have the honour to state that the places which ought to 



125 

])c opened as Commercial Ports by China, herself, as provided 
in Article (5 of the Treaty respecting South Manchuria and 
Eastern Inner Mongolia signed this day, will be selected, and 
the regulations therefor will be drawn up by the Chinese Gov- 
ernment itself, a decision concerning which will be made after 
consulting the Alinister of Japan. 

I avail, etc., 

Signed: Lou Tskxc-Tsiaxg. 

His Excellency, Hioki Eki, 
Japanese ^Minister. 

REPLY. 

Peking, the 2^)th day of the ^^th month of 
the Arth year of Taisho. 

EXCKI.LKNCY, 

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note of this day's date in which you stated that 
the places which ought to be opened as Commercial Ports by 
China herself, as provided in Article 6 of the Treaty respecting 
South ^lanchuria and Eastern Inner ^Mongolia signed this day, 
will be selected, and the regulations therefor will be drawn up, 
by the Chinese Government itself, a deicsion concerning which 
will be n^ade after consulting the Minister of Japan. 

In rei)l\', I 1)eg to state that I have taken note of the same. 

I avail, etc., 

Signed: Hioki Eki. 

His Excellency, Lou Tsenc.-Tsianc^., 
Minister of Foreign Affairs. 

South Manchuria. 

F eki no;, the 2^^th day of the ^^th month of 
the 4:th year of the Republic of China. 
Monsieur le Ministre, 
I have the honour to state that Japanese subjects shall, as 
soon as possible, investigate and select mines in the mining areas 
in South ]\Ianchuria specified hereinunder, except those being 
prospected for or worked, and the Chinese Government will 



126 

then permit them to prospect or work the same ; but before the 
Mining regulations are definitely settled, the practice at present 
in force shall be followed. 



PROVINCES : FENGTIEN 
Locality • District 



Nil! Hsin T'ai 

Tien Shih Fu Kou 

Sha Sung Kang 

T'ieh Ch'ang 

Niian Ti T'ang 

An Shan Chan region 



Pen-hsi 

Hai-lung 

Tung-hna 

Chin 

From Liaoyang to 

Pen-hsi 



Mineral 
Coal 



Iron 



Locality 



KIRIN (Southern Portion) 
District 



Sha Sung Kang 

Kang Yao 

Cilia P'i Kou 



Ho-lung 
Chi-lin (Kirin) 

Hua-tien 
I avail, etc., 
Signed : 
His Excellency, Hioki Eki, 
Japanese Minister. 



Mineral 

C&L 
Coal 
Gold 

Lou TSENG-TSIANG. 



REPLY. 

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th mojith of 
the 4:th year of Taisho. 
Excellency, 

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note of this day's date respecting the opening of 
mines in South Manchuria, stating: "Japanese subjects shall, as 
soon as possible, investigate and select mines in the mining areas 
in South Manchuria specified hereinunder, excepting those being 
prospected for or worked and the Chinese Government will then 
permit them to prospect or work the same, but before the 
Mining regulations are definitely settled, the practice at present 
in force shall be followed. 



127 

PROVINCES FENGTIEN 

Locality District Mineral 

Niu Shin T'ai Pen-hsi Coal 
Tien Shih Fu Kou 

Sha Sung Kang Hai-lung 

T'ieh Ch'ang Tung-hiia 

Xuan Ti T'ang Chin 

An Shan Chan region From Liaoyang 

to Pen-hsi Iron 

KIRIN (Southern portion) 

Sha Sung Kang Ilo-hnig C&I 

Kang Yao Chilin (Kirin) Coal 

Cilia P'i Kou Mua-tien Gold 

Signed : lIioKi Eki. 

His Excellency, Lou Tsenc-Tsiang, 

Minister of Foreign Affairs 

of the Republic of China. 

Exchange of Notes Respecting Railways and Taxes in South 
Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia. 

Peking, the 2ofh day of the -yth month of 
the 4:th year of the Republic of China. 
Monsieur le Ministre, 
In the name of my Government, I have the honour to make 
the following declaration to your Government : 

China will hereafter provide funds for building necessary 
railways in South Manchuria and Eastern Inner AFongolia; if 
foreign capital is required China may negotiate for a loan with 
Japanese capitalists first ; and further, the Chinese Government, 
when making a loan in future on the security of the taxes in 
the above-mentioned places (excluding the salt and customs 
revenue which has already been pledged by the Chinese Central 
Government) may negotiate for it with Japanese capitalists first. 

I avail, etc.. 

Signed: Lou Tseng-Tsiang. 

His Excellency, Hioki Eki 
Japanese Minister. 



128 

REPLY. 

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month 
of the 4:th year of Taisho 

Excellency, 

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note of this day's date respecting railways and 
taxes in South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia in 
which you stated: 

''China will hereafter provide funds for building necessary 
railways in South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia ; if 
foreign capital is required China may negotiate for a loan with 
Japanese capitalists first ; and further, the Chinese Government, 
when making a loan in future on the security of taxes in the 
above-mentioned places (excluding the salt and customs revenue 
which has already been pledged by the Chinese Central Gov- 
ernment) may negotiate for it with Japanese capitalists first." 

In reply I beg to state that I have taken note of the same. 

I avail, etc., 

Signed: Hioki Eki 

His Excellency, Lou Tseng-Tsl\ng 
Minister of Foreign Affairs. 

Exchange of Notes Respecting the Employment of Advisers 

in South Manchuria. 

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of 
the 4ith year of the Republic of China. 
Monsieur le Ministre, 
In the name of the Chinese Government, I have the honour 
to make the following declaration to your Government : 

"Hereafter, if foreign advisers or instructors on political, 
financial, military or police matters are to be employed in South 
Manchuria, Japanese may be employed first." 

I avail, etc., 

Signed: Lou Tseng-Tsiang 

His Excellency, Hioki Eki 
Japanese Minister. 



129 
REPLY. 

Peking, the 2oth day of the hth month 
of the 4:th year of Taisho. 
Excellency, 

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Ex- 
cellency's note of this day's date in which you made the follow- 
ing declaration in the name of your Government : 

"Hereafter if foreign advisers or instructors in political, 
financial, military or police matters are to be employed in 
South Manchuria, Japanese may be employed first." 

In reply, I beg to state that I have taken note of the same. 

I avail, etc.. 

Signed : Hioki Eki 
His Excellency, Lou Tseng-Tsl\ng 
Minister of Foreign Aflfairs 

Exchange of Notes Respecting the Explanation of "Lease by 
Negotiation" in South Manchuria. 

Peking, the 2Dth day of the oth month 
of the 4:th year of Taisho. 
Excellency, 

I have the honour to state that the term "lease by negotia- 
tion" contained in Article 2 of the Treaty respecting South 
Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia signed this day shall 
1;e understood to imply a long-term lease of not more than 
thirty years and also the possibility of its unconditional renewal. 

I avail, etc., 

Signed: Hioki Eki 
His Excellency, Lou Tseng-Tsiang 
Minister of Foreign Afifairs 

REPLY. 

Peking, the 2bth day of the oth month 
of the 4th year of the Republic of China. 
Monsieur le AIinistre, 

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note of this day's date in which you state : 



130 

''The term 'lease by negotiation' contained in Article 2 of 
the Treaty respecting South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mon- 
golia signed this day shall be understood to imply a long-term 
lease of not more than thirty years and also the possibility of 
its unconditional renewal." 

In reply I beg to state that I have taken note of the same. 

I avail, etc., 

Signed: Lou Tseng-Tsiang 

His Excellency, Hioki Eki 
Japanese Minister. 

Exchange of Notes Respecting the Arrangement for Police 

Laws and Ordinances and Taxation in South 

Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia. 

Peking, the 2oth day of the oth month of the 
4:th year of the Republic of China. 
Monsieur le Ministre, 

I have the honour to state that the Chinese Authorities will 
notify the Japanese Consul of the police laws and ordinances 
and the taxation to which Japanese subjects shall submit accord- 
ing to Article 5 of the Treaty respecting South Manchuria and 
Eastern Inner Mongolia signed this day so as to come to an 
understanding with him before their enforcement. 

I avail, etc., 

Signed: Lou Tseng-Tsiaxg. 

His Excellency, Hioki Eki 
Japanese Minister. 

REPLY. 

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th 
month of the -^th year of Taisho. 
Excellency, 

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note of this day's date in which you state : 

"The Chinese Authorities will notify the Japanese Consul 
of the Police laws and ordinances and the taxation to which 



131 

Japanese subjects shall submit according to Article 5 of the 
Treaty respecting South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia 
signed this day so as to come to an understanding with him 
before their enforcement." 

In reply, I beg to state that I have taken note of the same. 

I avail, etc., 

Signed : HioKi Eki. 

Mis Excellency, Lou Tseng-Tsiang 
Minister of Foreign Affairs. 

Note. 

Peking, the 2oth day of the oth )}io}ith of 
the 4:th year of the Republic of China. 

Monsieur le Ministre, 
I have the honour to state that, inasmuch as preparations 
have to be made regarding Articles 2, .'?, 4 and 5 of the Treaty 
respecting South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia 
signed this day, the Chinese Government proposes that the 
operation of the said Articles be posti)oned for a period of 
three months beginning from the date of the signing of the 
said Treaty. 

I hope your Government will agree to this proposal. 

I avail, etc.. 

Signed : Lou Tseng-Tsiang. 

His Excellency, Hioki Eki 
Japanese Minister. 

REPLY. 

Peking, the 2otJi day of the 5th month 
of the 4:th year of Taisho. 
Excellency, 

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note of this day's date in which you stated that "in- 
asmuch as preparations have to be made regarding Articles 2, 
3, 4 and 5 of the Treaty respecting South Manchuria and 
Eastern Inner Mongolia signed this day, the Chinese Govern- 



132 

m^nt proposes that the operation of the said Articles be post- 
poned for a period of three months beginning from the date 
of the signing of the said Treaty." 

In reply, I beg to state that I have taken note of the same. 

I avail, etc., 

Signed : Hioki Eki. 

His Excellency, Lou Tseng-Tsiaxg 
Minister of Foreign Affairs. 

Exchange of Notes Respecting the Mat-^er of Hanyehping. 

Peking, the 2Dth day of the ^)th month of 
the 4:th year of the Republic of China. 

Monsieur le Ministre, 
I have the honour to state that if in future the Hanyehping 
Company and the Japanese capitalists agree upon co-operation, 
the Chinese Government, in view of the intimate relations sub- 
sisting between the Japanese capitalists and the said Company, 
will forthwith give its permission. The Chinese Government 
further agrees not to confiscate the said Company, nor, without 
the consent of the Japanese capitalists to convert it into a state 
enterprise, nor cause it to borrow and use foreign capital other 
than Japanese. 

I avail, etc.. 

Signed : Lou Tseng-Tsiang. 

His Excellency, Hioki Eki 
Japanese Minister. 

REPLY. 

Peking, the 2r)th day of the oth 
month of the ^th year of Taisho. 
Excellency, 

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note of this day's date in which you state : 

"If in future the Hanyehping Company and the Japanese 
capitalists agree upon co-operation, the Chinese Government, 
in view of the intimate relations subsisting between the Japa- 



133 

nese capitalists and the said Company, will forthwith give its 
permission. The Chinese (lovernment further agrees not to 
confiscate the said Company, nor, without the consent of the 
Japanese capitalists to convert it into a state enterprise, nor 
cause it to borrow and use foreign capital other than Japanese." 

Jn reply, I beg to state that I have taken note of the same. 

I avail, etc.. 

Signed : Hioki Eki. 

His Excellency, Lou Tsexg-Tsiaxc. 
Minister of Foreign Affairs. 

Exchange of Notes Respecting the Fukien Question. 

Peking, the 2oth day of the ^th month of 
the ^tJi year of Taisho. 

EXCELLEXCV, 

A report has reached me to the effect that the Chinese Gov- 
ernment has the intention of permitting foreign nations to estab- 
lish, on the coast of Fukien Province, dock-yards, coaling sta- 
tions for military use, naval bases, or to set up other military 
estaljlishments ; and also of borrowing foreign capital for the 
purpose of setting up the above-mentioned establishments. 

T have the honour to request that Your Excellency will be 
good enough to give me reply stating whether or not the Chi- 
nese Government really entertains such an intention. 

I avail, etc.. 

Signed: Hioki Eki. 

His Excellency, Lou Tsexg-Tsiang 
Minister of Foreign Aft'airs. 

REPLY. 

Peking, the 2oth day of the ^^tJi month of 
the 4:th year of the Republic af China. 
Monsieur le Ministre, 
T have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note of this day's date which I have noted. 

In reply I beg to inform you that the Chinese Government 
hereby declares that it has given no permission to foreign 



13i 

nations to construct on the coast of Fnkien Province, dock-yards, 
coaling stations for military use, naval bases, or to set up other 
military establishments ; nor does it entertain an intention of 
borrowing foreign capital for the purpose of setting up the 
above-mentioned establishments. 

I avail, etc., ^ 

Signed : Lou Tsexc-Tsiang. 

His Excellency, Hioki Eki 
Japanese Minister. 



No. 18. 

China's Declaration of War on Germany and Austria-Hungary, 

August 14, 1917. 

On the 9th day of the 2nd month of this year ( February 9, 
1917) the Government of the Repubilc addressed a protest to 
the German Government against the policy of submarine war- 
fare inaugurated by Germany, which was considered by this 
Government as contrary to International Law, and imperilling 
neutral lives and property, and declared therein that in case the 
protest should be ineffectual this Government would be con- 
strained, much to its regret, to sever diplomatic relations with 
Germany. 

Contrary to our expectations, however, no modification was 
made in Germany's submarine policy after the lodging of our 
protest. On the contrary, the number of neutral vessels and 
belligerent merchantmen destroyed in an arbitrary and illegal 
manner was daily increasing and the lives of our citizens lost 
were numerous. Under such circumstances, although we might 
yet remain indifferent and endure suffering, with the meagre 
hope of preserving a temporary peace, in so doing we would 
never be able to satisfy our people who are devoted to right- 
eousness and sensible to disgrace, nor could we justify our- 
selves before our sister States which have acted without hesita- 
tion in obedience to the dictates of a sense of duty. Both here 
and in the friendly States, the cause of indignation was the 
same, and among the people of this country there could be 



135 

found no difference of opinion. This Government, therefore, 
being compelled to consider its protest as being ineffectual, 
notified the German Government on the 14th day of the 3rd 
month last of the severance of diplomatic relations and at the 
same time the events taking place from the beginning up to 
that time were announced for the general information of the 
international public. 

What we have desired is peace ; what we have respected is 
International Law : what we have to protect are the lives and 
property of our own people. As we originally had no other 
grave causes of enmity against Germany, if the German Gov- 
ernment had manifested repentance for the deplorable conse- 
quences resulting from its method of warfare, it might have 
been expected to modify that policy in view of the common 
indignation of the whole w^orld. That was what we have 
eagerly desired, and it was the reason why we have felt reluc- 
tant to treat Germany as a common enemy. Nevertheless, dur- 
ing the five months following the severance of diplomatic rela- 
tions, the submarine attacks have continued exactly as before. 
It is not Germany alone, but Austria-Hungary as well, which 
has adopted and pursued this policy without abatement. Not 
only has International Law been thereby violated, but also our 
people are suffering injuries and losses. The most sincere hope 
on our part of bringing about a better state is now shattered. 

Therefore, it is hereby declared, that a state of war exists 
between China on the one hand and Germany and Austria- 
Hungary on the other commencing from ten o'clock of this, the 
1-lth day of the 8th month of the Gth year of the Republic of 
China. 

In consequence thereof, all treaties, agreements, and con- 
ventions, heretofore concluded between China and Germany, 
and between China and Austria-Hungary, as well as such parts 
of the international protocols and international agreements as 
concern only the relations between China and Germany and 
China and Austria-Hungary are, in conformity with the Law of 
Nations and international practice, hereby abrogated. This Gov- 
ernment, however, will respect the Hague Conventions and its 
international agreements respecting the humane conduct of war. 



136 

The chief object in our declaration of war is to put an end 
to the calamities of war and to hasten the restoration of peace. 
All our citizens will appreciate this to be our aim. Seeing, 
however, that our people have not yet at the present time re- 
covered from sufferings on account of the recent political dis- 
turbances and that calamity again befalls us in the breaking- 
out of the present war, I, the President of this Republic, cannot 
help having profound sympathy for our people when I take into 
consideration their further suffering. I would never have re- 
sorted to this step which involves fighting for the very existence 
of our nation, were I not driven to this unavoidable decision. 

I cannot bear to think that through us the dignity of Inter- 
national Law should be impaired, or our position in the family 
of nations should be undermined or the restoration of the peace 
and happiness of the world should be retarded. Let the people 
of this entire nation do their utmost in this hour of trial and 
hardship in order to safeguard and develop the national exist- 
ence of the Shung Hua Republic, so that we may establish our- 
selves amidst the family of nations and share with all mankind 
the prosperity and blessings drawn from our common associa- 
tion. Let this proclamation be published in order that it may be 
generally known. 

Seal of the President 

Peking, the 14,th day of the Sth month, the Gth year of the 
Chung Hua Republic (August Ufh, 1917.) 

Countersigned by : 

TuAN Chi-Jui, Liang Chi-Chao, 

Premier and Minister of War. Minister of Finance. 

Wang Ta-Hsieh, Liu Kwan-Hsiung, 

Minister of Foreign Affairs. Minister of the Navy. 

Tang Hua-Lung, Ling ChaNg-Ming, 

Minister of the Interior. Minister of Justice. 

Fan Yuan-Lien, 

Minister of Education. 

Chang Kuo-Kan, 

Minister of Agriculture and Commerce. 

TSAO Ju-LiN, 

Minister of Communications. 



137 

No. 19. 

Exchange of Notes Between the Chinese Minister at Tokio and 
the Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Respecting the 
Construction of Chinan-Shunteh and Kaonii-Hsiichow 
Railways, September 24th, 1918. 

Note From Mr. Tsung-Hsiang Chang to the Japanese Minister 

for Foreign Affairs. 

Tokio, September 24, 1918. 

MONSIFA'R ]Al MiNISTRE, 

The Chinese Government has decided to obtain loans from 
Ja])anese capitalists for the purpose of constructing as soon as 
possible the railways connecting; points as below set forth. Hav- 
ing received an authorization from my Government, I have the 
honour to communicate the same to your Government. 

1° Between Chinan and Shunteh ; 

2° Between Kaomi and Hsu-chow. 

However, in case the above-mentioned two lines are deemed 
to be disadvantageous from the point of view of raihvay enter- 
prise, other suitable lines will be decided upon by consultation. 

Should there be no objection to the above propositions it is 
requested that your Government will proceed forthwith to take 
the necessary steps to cause Japanese capitalists to agree to 
enter into negotiations for loans on the same. 

A reply to the above communication will be a])preciated. 

Signed: Tsuxc-Hsiaxc Ciianc. 
His Excellency, Baron Shimpei Goto, etc. 

Baron Goto to the Chinese Minister at Tokio. 

Tokio, September 24, 1918. 
Monsieur le Ministre, 
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note of this day's date in which you state that your 
Government has decided to obtain loans from Japanese capital- 
ists for the purpose of construction as soon as possible the rail- 
ways connecting points as below set forth. 



138 

(Quotes Items 1 — 2 as given in the note of the Chinese 
Minister.) 

The Imperial Government acknowledge with pleasure the 
communication of the Chinese Government, and beg to state in 
reply that they will proceed forthwith to take the necessary 
steps to cause Japanese capitalists to agree to enter into nego- 
tiations for loans on the same. 

Signed : Shimpei Goto. 
His Excellency, Mr. Tsung-Hsiang Chang, etc. 

No. 20. 

Preliminary Contract Between China and Japan Respecting 

the Chinan-Shunteh and Kaomi-Hsuchow Railways, 

September 24tli, 1918. 

The full text of the preliminary contract for the Chinan- 
Shunteh and Kaomi-Hsuchow railways construction loan is as 
follows : ■ 

For the construction of two railways — one from Chinan in 
the Province of Shantung to Shunteh in the Province of Chili, 
the other from Kaomi in the Province of Shantung to Hsuchow 
in the Province of Kiangsu (hereafter called the Two Rail- 
ways) — the Government of the Republic of China (hereafter 
called the Government) of the first part, and the Japanese In- 
dustrial Bank representing the three banks, the Japanese Indus- 
trial Bank, the Taiwan Bank, and the Chosen Bank (hereafter 
called the Banks) of the second part, hereby make the follow- 
ing preliminary contract as a basis for the conclusion of a 
formal loan contract. 

Art. 1. — The Government agrees that to meet all the ex- 
penses necessary for the construction of the railway from 
Chinan, in the Province of Shantung, to Shunteh, in the Prov- 
ince of Chili, and that from Kaomi, in the Province of Shan- 
tung, to Hsuchow, in the Province of Kiangsu, the Banks shall 
issue Chinese Government Chinan-Shunteh Railway Gold and 
Kaomi-Hsuchow Railway Gold Bonds (hereafter called bonds 
of the Two Railways). But to assure the success of the 
Chinan-Shunteh and Kaomi-Hsuchow lines, if as a railway 
enterprise the location of the lines should be found to be not 



139 

advantageous, the Government may arrange with the Banks to 
chance the location of the Hnes. 

Art. 2. — The Government will soon determine the amount 
required for the construction and of all other necessary ex- 
penses, and secure concurrence of the Banks therefor. 

Art. 3. — The bonds of the Two Railways shall expire at 
the end of 40 years dating from the day of issue. Repayment 
shall begin from the eleventh year and be made in accordance 
with a plan of amortization. 

Art. 4. — As soon as the formal contract shall have been 
made, the construction work shall begin so that the railroads 
may be completed in a short time. 

Art. 5. — The Government pledges the following as security 
for the repayment of the principal and interest on the bonds 
of the Two Railways ; all properties now belonging or will in 
the future belong to the Chinan-Shunteh and Kaomi-Hsuchow 
Railways. 

Without the consent of the Banks, the Government shall 
not pledge away to any other party as security or guarantee 
any part of the property or its income which at present belongs, 
or will, in future, belong to Chinan-Shunteh and Kaomi- 
Hsuchow Railways. 

Art. 6. — The price of issue of the railways' bonds, the 
interest thereon, and the actual amount to be received by the 
Government shall be agreed upon according to the circumstances 
at the time of issue always, however, with a view to the best 
interests of the Government. 

Art. 7. — Conditions which have not been provided for in 
the preceding articles shall be decided between the Government 
and the Banks in common accord. 

Art. 8. — A formal contract for the Chinan-Shunteh and 
Kaomi-Hsuchow Railway loan shall be based on this prelimi- 
nary contract, and be made within four months from the date 
of this contract. 

Art. 9. — On the conclusion of this preliminary contract, 
the Banks will advance to the Government 20,000,000 yen in the 
full amount without any discount whatsoever. 



140 

Art. 10. — The rate of interest on the said advance shall 
be eight per cent per annum, that is to say, every one hundred 
yen shall bear a yearly interest of eight yen. 

Art. 11. — The said advance shall be paid against the de- 
livery of national treasury notes issued by the Government, 
according to their actual value. 

Art. 12. — The national treasury notes referred to in the 
preceding article shall be renewed every six months, and upon 
each renewal, the interest thereon for the six months shall be 
paid to the Banks. 

Art. 13. — After a formal contract for the Chinan-Shunteli 
and Kaomi-Hsuchow railway loan has been made, the Govern- 
ment shall appropriate the proceeds realized from the sale of 
the above-said bonds in payment, by priority, and without delay, 
of the above advance. 

Art. 14. — The payment of the said advance and of the 
interest thereon, its repayment, and all other transactions con- 
nected therewith, shall be made at Tokyo, Japan. This pre- 
liminary contract is made in two Japanese copies, and two 
Chinese copies, the Government and Banks shall each keep one 
copy of each language. In case of doubt in interpretation, the 
Japanese text shall prevail. 

The 24th day, 9th month, 7th year of the Republic of 
China. 

Signed : Tsuxg-Hsiang Chang, 
Chinese Minister. 
A. Ono, 
Vice-President of the Japanese Industrial Bank. 



No. 21. H 
Exchange of Notes Between the Chinese Minister at Tokio 
and the Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Respecting 
Adjustment of Questions Concerning Shantung, Septemher 
24th, 1918. 
Note From Baron Goto to the Chinese Minister at Tokio. 

Tokio. September 24, 1918. 
Monsieur le Ministre, 
The Japanese Government, mindful of the amiable relations 
between our two countries and out of a -spirit of friendly co- 



I4i 

operation, propose to adjust all the questions relating to Shan- 
tung in accordance with the following- Articles : ■ 

1. Japanese troops along the Kiaochow-Ghinan Railway, 
except a contingent of them to be stationed at Chinanfu, shall 
be withdrawn to Tsingtao. 

2. The Chinese Government may organize a police force 
to undertake the policing of the Kiaochow-Ghinan Railway. 

3. The Kiachow-Ghinan Railway is to ])rovide a reason- 
able amount to defray the expense for the maintenance of the 
above-mentioned police force. 

4. Japanese are to be employed at the headquarters of the 
above-mentioned police force at the princi])al railway stations 
and at the police training school. 

5. Ghinese citizens shall be employed l)y the Kiaochow- 
Ghinan Railway Administration as part of its stafif. 

6. The Kiaochow^-Ghinan Railway, after its ownership is 
definitely determined, is to l)e made a Ghino-Japanese joint 
enterprise. , 

7. The civil administration established by Japan and exist- 
ing now is to be abolished. 

The Japanese Government desire to be advised of the atti- 
tude of your Government regarding the above-mentioned pro- 
posals. 

Signed: Siiimpei Goto. 

His Excellency, ]\Ir. Tsung-Hsiang Ghang, etc. 

Mr. Tsung-Hsiang Chang to the Japaness Minister for 

Foreign Affairs. 

Tokio, September. 24, 1918. 
Monsieur le Ministre, 
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note stating: 

The Japanese Government, mindful of the amiable relations 
l)etween our two countries and out of a spirit of friendly co- 
operation, propose to* adjust all the questions relating to Shan- 
tung in accordance with the following Articles. 



142 

(Quotes Items 1-7 as contained in the note of the Japanese 
Minister for Foreign Affairs.) 

In reply, I have the honour to state that the Chinese Gov- 
ernment are pleased to agree to the above-mentioned Articles 
proposed by the Japanese Government. 

Signed: Tsung-Hsiang Chang. 
His Excellency, Baron Shimpei Goto, etc. 



No. 22. 

Exchange of Notes Between the Chinese Minister at Tokio 
and the Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs for Building 
Four Railroads in Manchuria and Mongolia, September 
24th, 1918. 

Note From Mr. Tsung-Hsiang Chang to the Japanese Minister 

for Foreign Affairs. 

Tokio, September 24, 1918. 
Monsieur le Ministre, 
The Chinese Government have decided to obtain loans from 
Japanese capitalists for the purpose of building as soon as pos- 
sible the railways connecting the points as below set forth. 
Having received an authorization from my Government, I have 
the honour to communicate the same to your Government. 
1* Between Kai-yuan, Hailung and Kirin ; 
2" Between Changchun and Taonan ; 
3° Between Taonan and Dalny ( ?) ; 
4:" From a point between Taonan and Jehol to some 
seaport (this line to be determined in future 
after an investigation). 

Should there be no objection to the above propositions it is 
requested that your Government will proceed forthwith to take 
the necessary steps to cause Japanese capitalists to agree to 
enter into negotiations for loans on the same. 

A reply to the above communication will be appreciated. 

Signed: Tsung-Hsiang Chang. 
His Excellency, Baron Shimpei Goto, etc. 



143 
Baron Goto to the Chinese Minister at Tokio. 

Tokio, September 24, 1918. 
Monsieur le Ministre, 
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your 
Excellency's note in which you state that your Government 
have decided to obtain loans from Japanese capitalists for the 
purpose of constructing as soon as possible the railways con- 
necting points as below set forth. 

(Quotes Items 1-4 as contained in the note of the Chinese 
Minister.) 

The Imperial Government acknowledge with pleasure the 
communication of the Chinese Government, and beg to state in 
reply that they will promptly take the necessary steps to cause 
Japanese capitalists to agree to enter into negotiations for loans 
on the same. 

Signed: Shimpei Goto. 

His Excellency, Mr. Tsung-Hsiang Chang, etc. 



No. 23. ^^ 

Preliminary Contract for Loans to Build Four Railroads in 
Manchuria and Mongolia, September 28th, 1918. 

The Chinese Government (hereafter called the Govern- 
ment), for the purpose of building four railroads: 

1. From Jehol to Taonan, 

2. From Changchun to Taonan, 

3. From Kirin via Hailung to Kai-yuan, 

4. From a point between Jehol and Taonan to some point 
on the sea coast (the said four roads to be hereafter mentioned 
as the 4 roads in Manchuria and Mongolia) and as a prepara- 
tory measure for a formal contract, hereby concludes with the 
syndicate represented by the Japanese Industrial Bank and 
composed of : 



1. The Japanese Industrial Bank, 

2. The Taiwan Bank, 

3^ - The . Chosen : Bank^. ... .. 

(hereafter mentioned as the Banks) the following Prelimi- 
nary -Contract : . 

: ... Akt. 1. — ^^The ■Government authorizes the aforementioned 

Japanese Banking Syndicate to issue : 

- - 1. Chinese Government Jehol-Taonan R. R. Gold Bonds. 

2. Chinese Government Changchun-Taonan R. R. Gold 
Bonds. 

3. Chinese 'Government Kirin-Kai-yuan R. R. Gold Bonds. 

4. Chinese Government (name to be determined) R. R. 
Gold Bonds, (hereafter to be designated as Manchuria-Mongolia 
4 Railway Bonds) to cover the constructing expenses of the 
above-mentioned four R. R. 

The Government and the Banks shall conjointly determine 
the point on the Jehol-Taonan R. R. to be connected to some 
seaport and the route to be taken by the R. R. connecting said 
point with said seaport. 

Art. 2. — The Government shall determine as soon as pos- 
sible the constructing and other expenses needed by the four 
R. R. and shall obtain the agreement of the Banks in respect 
thereof. 

Art. 3. — The Gold Bonds of the four R. R. shall expire at 
the end of forty years, counting from the date of issue of said 
bonds. 

Beginning with the eleventh year from the date of issue, 
the repayment of the said bonds shall commence in accordance 
with a system of amortization. 

Art. 4. — When the Formal Contract for the loan to build 
the four R. R. is concluded, the Chinese Government shall con- 
jointly with the Banks decide on an engineering program of 
construction and construction shall begin with a view to the 
speedy completion of the said R. R. 

Art. 5. — ^As guarantee for the capital and interest of the 
Gold Bonds, the Government shall pledge to the Banks the 
present and future property and income of the four R. R. 



Ho 

Unless with the consent of the Banks the Government shall 
not pledge the above-mentioned property and income as guar- 
antee or security to any other party. 

Art. 6. — The price of issue, the rate of interest and the 
actual amount to be received by the Government in respect of 
the Gold Bonds shall be determined in accordance with the con- 
ditions at the time of issue of said bonds, always, however, to 
the best interests of the Government. 

Art. 7. — The Government and the Banks shall conjointly 
decide on matters not covered by the above articles. 

Art. 8. — The present Preliminary Contract shall form the 
basis for a Formal Contract which shall be concluded within 
four months from the conclusion of the present Preliminary 
( Contract. 

Art. 9. — The Banks, after the conclusion of the Preliminary 
Contract, shall advance to the Government Yen 20,000,000 to 
be paid in full and without discount. 

Art. 10. — The interest of the above-mentioned advance shall 
be eight per cent per annum, to wit, for every one hundred yen 
there shall be eight yen as annual interest. 

Art. 11. — The above-mentioned advance shall be paid 
against the delivery of the National Treasury Notes issued by 
the Government at their actual value. 

Art. 12. — The said National Treasury Notes shall be re- 
newed every six months, each time with the payment of six 
months' interest. 

Art. 13. — When the Formal Contract for loans to build 
the four R. R. is concluded, the advance shall have priority of 
repayment from the proceeds of the Gold Bonds. 

Art. 14. — The payment of both the interest and the ad- 
vance and other transactions connected therew^ith shall take 
place in Tokio. 

Copies of this Preliminary Contract shall be prepared in 
both the Chinese and Japanese languages, two copies in each 



146 

language. The Government and the Banks shall each be fur- 
nished with two copies, one in each language. 

In case of disagreement in the interpretation of the Pre- 
liminary Contract the Japanese language shall prevail. 

Done this Twenty-eighth Day of Ninth Month of the 
Seventh Year of the Republic of China. 

This Twenty-eighth Day of Ninth Month of the Seventh 
Year of the Reign of Taisho of the Imperial Government of 
Japan. 

TsuNG-TsiANG Chang, 

Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary 
of the Republic of China to Japan. 

A. Ono, 
Vice-president of the Japanese Industrial Bank. 



QUESTIONS 
FOR READJUSTMENT 

SUBMITTED BY CHINA 

TO THE PEACE 

CONFERENCE 



148 



RENUNCIATION OF THE 
SPHERES OF INFLUENCE OR INTEREST. 



The Chinese Government, in their desire to expedite China's 
economic development, have sought to extend to all nations 
alike the opportunities for trade and investment which China 
offers by reason of her large population and rich resources. In 
this eff'ort they have encountered obstacles in the so-called 
spheres of influence or interest claimed by certain Powers hav- 
ing interests in China. The idea underlying the claims seems 
to be that within the sphere of influence or interest the Power 
claiming it should be entitled to enjoy reserved territorial ad- 
vantages or preferential or exclusive rights and privileges of 
trade and investment. 

It was Germany who first claimed a sphere of influence or 
interest over the Province of Shantung, and later other Powers, 
apparently out of a desire to maintain the balance of power in 
the Far East, advanced similar claims in regard to oth^r |):irt.> 
of the territory of China. 

The claims of foreign Powers for spheres of influence or 
interest in China are either based upon agreements between 
themselves to which China is not a party, such as the Agree- 
ment of September 2, 1898, relating to railway construction, 
concluded between British and German banking groups and 
sanctioned by their respective Governments, and the Anglo- 
Russian Convention of April 28, 1899, concerning their respect- 
ive railway interests in China ; or based upon treaties or agree- 
ments made with China under circumstances precluding the free 
exercise of her will, such as the so-called non-alienation agree- 
ments made during the period known as that of the battle for 
Concessions, the Convention with Germany for the lease of 
Kiaochow of March G, 1898, and the Treaties and Notes of 
May 25, 1915, made with Japan in consequence of the latter's 
twenty-one demands on China. 

The policy of claiming spheres of influence or interest in 
China appears unjustifiable for several reasons. In the first 
place, it hampers rather than helps China's economic develop- 
ment. It appears to be conceived to serve the interests of none 



1 l!» 

l)ut those of the Power in whose favour the claim is advanced, 
it looks upon a particular province or provinces of China as a 
preserve for exclusive exploitation by its own citizens or sub- 
jects w^ithout regard to the economic needs of the Chinese 
people. It restricts the natural flow of surplus capital, denies 
the freedom of selection in the purchase of materials and in the 
employment of technical experts, and seeks to check the opera- 
tion of the principle of supply and demand. There have been 
several instances of one nation or another who was unable itself 
to supply the necessary capital or the proper men for a ])ar- 
ticular enterprise in a region it claims for its sphere of influence 
or interest and yet who refused to allow the enterprise either 
financed or carried out by other nations who could supply both 
the money and the men. 

In the second place, it prejudices the common interests of 
other nations, vitiating the principle of ecjual opportunity for 
the commerce and industry of all nations. Instead of sharing 
the advantages and opportunities with other Powders on a foot- 
ing of equality, that Power which claims a sphere of inlluence 
or interest over a given region and enjoys exclusive or prefer- 
ential rights and privileges therein whether for building rail- 
roads, opening mines or financing other industrial enterprises, 
usually gains an economic ascendancy and gradually gather > 
in its hands all the elements for economic domination over that 
region. 

But a graver objection to the claims for spheres of influ- 
ence or interest lies in the fact that the claim of one nation 
always leads to similar claims by other nations over other parts 
of China's territory. Insistence on the claims for spheres of 
influence or interest in China can only lead, in the ultimate 
result, not to a unified and co-ordinated ])rocess of economic 
development of whole China, but rather to the building up 
wnthin her domain of a number of rival economic areas, threat- 
ening her territorial integrity and political independence as well 
as giving rise to international jealousy and friction and thereby 
jeopardizing the i:)eace of the Far East. The true interests of 
the world as well as the national welfare of China api)ear to 
call for the renunciation by the Powers concerned of their claims 
for spheres of influence or interest in China, spheres which con- 



150 

stitute veritable ''economic barriers" to the application of the 
generally accepted principle of equal opportunity for the com- 
merce and industry of all nations, and which tend to foster 
''economic antagonisms" most susceptible to transformation into 
elements of serious international discord. 

In view of the foregoing considerations, the Chinese Gov- 
ernment hope that the interested Powers will, out of their sin- 
cere regard for the sovereign rights of China and the common 
interests of all nations having trade relations with her, make a 
declaration, each for itself, to the efifect that they have not any 
sphere of influence or interest in the Republic of China, nor 
intend to claim any ; and that they are prepared to undertake a 
revision of such treaties, agreements, notes or contracts previ- 
ously concluded with her as have conferred, or may be con- 
strued to have conferred, on them, respectively, reserved terri- 
torial advantages or preferential rights or privileges to create 
spheres of influence or interest impairing the sovereign rights 
of China. 



WITHDRAWAL OF FOREIGN TROOPS AND POLICE. 



The presence of foreign troops and police in Chinese terri- 
tory other than those in the leased territories and in the foreign 
settlements and concessions, which have been dealt with in the 
memorandum on these two subjects, has been a matter of in- 
creasing concern to the Chinese Government. To present the 
situation clearly, it is desirable to discuss the question under 
two separate headings. 

I. FOREIGN TROOPS IN CHINA. 
A. Origin of Their Presence. 

They are of two classes: (1) those who remain in China 
under the sanction of treaty and (2) those whose presence is 
unwarranted. 

(1) In their note of December 22, 1900, communicating 
to the Chinese Government the peace terms consequent on the 



151 

Boxer I'prisinL;', the foreign Powers demanded, among other 
things, "the right of each Power to maintain a permanent guard 
in the f|uarter for the defence of its Legation." This right was 
granted in China's reply of January IG, 1901. and confirmed in 
the final Protocol of September 7, 1901. In the same instru- 
ment there was granted to the Powers, signatories thereof, ''the 
right of occupying certain points to be determined by agree- 
ment between them for keeping the communication free between 
the Capital and the sea." For this purpose a number of points 
along the Peking-Mukden Railway were specified for occupation 
by foreign troops. All the foreign Powers, signatories of the 
Protocol of 1901, except Spain, have stationed troops at one or 
more of these points, these Powers being Austria-Hungary, Bel- 
gium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Italy, Japan, 
Russia and the United States. The total number of these for- 
eign troops fluctuated before the war around 9,000. While the 
troops of some of the Powers were withdrawn after the out- 
break of the war in 1914, and while the German and Austrian 
troops were interned by China on the rupture of diplomatic rela- 
tions with the Central Powers, those of the other Powers still 
remain. 

(2) Foreign troops are present also in several other places 
in China, and these, unlike the Legation Guards and the troops 
stationed along the Peking-Mukden Railway, remain on Chinese 
soil, not by sanction of treaty, but against the repeated protests 
of the Chinese Government. 

(a) In Manchuria there are stationed Japanese and -Rus- 
sian troops. While the Chinese Eastern Railway Agreement of 
1896 between China and the Russo-Chinese Bank provided in 
Article V that the Chinese Government ''will take measures for 
the protection of the line and the men employed thereon," the 
Russian Government, in its subsequent charter to the Chinese 
Eastern Railway Company, stated that "the preservation of law 
and order on the lands assigned to the railway and its appur- 
tenances shall be confided to police agents appointed by the 
Company," and that "the Company shall for this purpose draw 
up and establish police regulations." Lender these provisions, 
railway guards were maintained by the Company. In the course 



152 

of constructing the line, however, Russia despatched troops to 
Manchuria, on the pretext of protecting the railway. The out- 
break of Boxers in Northern China gave her occasion to in- 
crease her military forces in Manchuria. Her troops occupied 
Newchuang, Mukden and all the important points along the 
Chinese Eastern Railways. Although by her agreement of April 
8, 1902, with China, Russia undertook to effect a complete with- 
drawal of all her troops within a stipulated period, she refused 
to carry out her undertaking fully. Instead she merely moved 
her troops into the territory occupied by the Raihvay Company 
and in addition occupied ports at the mouth of the Liao River 
and the tow^ns of Fenghwangcheng and Antung. Then follow^ed 
the fruitless Russo-Japanese negotiations, followed in turn by 
the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, which was fought on 
the soil of ATanchuria. 

By the Treaty of Portsmouth concluding the war, Russia 
transferred to Japan the raihvay from Port Arthur to Chang- 
chun. Although in Article III of the Treaty Japan and Russia 
mutually engaged to evacuate Manchuria completely and simul- 
taneously except the leased territory of Liaotung Peninsula, the 
contracting parties, in an additional article, reserved "to them- 
selves the right to maintain guards to protect their respective 
railway lines in Manchuria," the number of such guards not to 
"exceed fifteen per kilometer, and within that maximum number 
the commanders of the Japanese and Russian Armies" to fix, by 
common accord, "the number of such guards to be employed as 
small as possible while having in view the actual re(|uirements." 
Idius the Japanese troops and guards came to be stationed along 
the now called South Manchurian Railway. 

While China, by the Agreement of December 22, 1905, w'ith 
Japan, agreed to the transfer from Russia to Japan of the lease- 
hold rights, railway privileges and mining concessions which 
Russia had enjoyed before the Russo-Japanese War, the provi- 
sions of the said additional article relating to the stationing of 
railway guards were not assented to by China. 

On the contrary, in Article II of the Agreement China ex- 
pressed an earnest desire "to have the Japanese and Russian 
troops and railway guards in Manchuria withdrawn as soon as 



io;3 

possible," and the Japanese Government, "in the event of Russia 
agreeing to the withdrawal of her railway guards, or in case 
other proper measures are agreed to between China and Russia, 
consent to take similar steps accordingly." These railway guards 
have not been withdrawn. While the Chinese troops have, since 
the outbreak of political disturbance in Russia, taken the place 
of the Russian guards in the protection of the Chinese Eastern 
Railway and the line from Harbin to Changchun, the Japanese 
railway guards along the South Manchurian Railway and the 
railway from Mukden to Antung still remain. 

(b) Since 1900 the Japanese Government have stationed 
some troops at their Consulates in such places as Liutowkow in 
the Province of T'engtien and Yenki in the Province of Kirin, 
and beginning with 1!»11 the Russians, following the la])anese 
precedent, also put military guards at their Consulates at such 
places as Kirin and Yenki. 

(c) On the outbreak of the Revolution in China in the 
autumn of 1911, Japan despatched a battalion of about (iOO nien 
to Hankow, 800 miles up the Yangtze River, on the ground of 
protecting Japanese residents in that city. These have been sta- 
tioned quite outside of the treaty port limits and have at times 
numbered as many as 1500. Notwithstanding the repeated re- 
quests of the Chinese Government for their withdrawal, these 
troops still remain. They are equipped with a company of ma- 
chine guns and now quartered in barracks specially built since, 
capable of holding 2.")()0 men and provided with a wireless 
station. 

(d) There are also Japanese troops at Liaoyuan, on the 
border of Inner Mongolia. These were first sent there in 1914. 
Tn August of that year a party of Chinese police were engaged 
in a fight against the bandits in Changtu, far away in the inte- 
rior of Manchuria. A company of Japanese troops came to 
pass by the place, and mistaking the Chinese police to be firing 
against them, opened fire, killing three policemen and a Chinese 
passer-by, besides wounding ten others. Two Japanese were 
also wounded, but it could not be ascertained whether the 
wounds were inflicted by the police or by the bandits. On being 
apprised of this incident, the Japanese Consul despatched troops 



15^ 

to Liaoyuan. Although the incident was considered closed by 
China granting redress, which included the punishment of the 
policemen, reprimand of the police officers and an indemnity of 
$12,000, the Japanese troops have not yet been withdrawn. 

(e) After the outbreak of the war in Europe in 1914, Japan 
declared war on Germany and proceeded to attack Tsingtao. 
For this purpose she landed troops at Lungkow, 150 miles north 
of their destination. These Japanese forces, on the pretext of 
military necessity, seized the entire railway from Tsingtao to 
Chinan in the heart of the Province, occupied all the important 
stations on the line, and compelled Chinese troops to withdraw 
from its vicinity. Although the military operations entirely 
ceased in November, 1914, and Tsingtao was reopened to trade 
on January 1, 1915, the Japanese troops have remained in the 
Province against the protest of the Chinese Government. About 
2,200 Japanese troops are stationed along the railway. 

(f) At Kashgar in the Province of Sinkiang, formerly 
known as Chinese Turkestan, Great Britain in the year 1896 
established a postal agency with several 'messengers for carrying 
despatches between this place and India. Five years later the 
Russians also established a postal agency in the same place pro- 
tected by over ten mounted guards. Since 1900 the number 
of Russian troops was raised to 150. In 1918 Great Britain 
despatched 30 Indian soldiers to this city, stating that they were 
intended for the protection of the British Consulate there. 

B. Reasons for Withdrawal. 

1. (a) With reference to the foreign troops stationed in 
China by sanction of the Protocol of 1901, the Chinese Govern- 
ment believe that the necessity of their presence has ceased to 
exist. That Protocol was a sequel to the Boxer outbreak, and 
the provisions for the stationing of troops were inspired by the 
conditions which had then lately prevailed in Northern China. 
Those conditions have disappeared. The respect of the Chinese 
for foreign lives and property in recent years has been striking 
and beyond criticism, even in time of internal disturbance. 

(b) The presence of the Legation guards and foreign troops 
l)et\veen the Capital and the sea also does violence to the sense 



155 

of pride of the Chinese people, in that they are a stanchng dero- 
gation of China's sovereignty. In the same Hght must 1)e viewed 
the existence of the special quarters occupied hy the foreign 
Legations, which ''shall be considered as one specially reserved 
for their use and placed under their exclusive control, in which 
the Chinese shall not have the right to reside and which may 
be made defensible." Such an area finds no parallel in other 
capitals of the world. 

(c) The stationing of these international garrisons gives 
rise to incidents disturbing the peace and order of the localities 
in which they are stationed. Not infrequently troops of one 
Power quarrel with those of another. Such incidents, while not 
always grave in nature, have often given cause for anxiety on 
the part of the Chinese authorities. 

2. While the foregoing observations apply equally to the 
foreign troops who are present in Chinese territory without legal 
justification, there are additional reasons for urging the with- 
drawal of these troops. 

(a) The presence of foreign troops in Chinese territory 
jeopardizes the amicable relations among foreign Powers them- 
selves. It will be recalled, as an illustration, that the presence 
and the continuing massing of Russian troops on the Alongolian 
frontier and in ^Manchuria in 1900 rapidly estranged Japan from 
Russia, and it was the latter's refusal to withdraw her troops 
from Manchuria which brought on the Russo-Japanese War. 

(b) It also disturbs the friendly relations between China 
and the Power stationing troops in her territory. That such is 
the case can be seen from a number of unfortunate incidents 
which have occurred between the Japanese troops in China and 
the Chinese people, but of which perhaps only a few need be 
cited here. 

The case in 1913 of Colonel Xesimori of the Japanese 
troops stationed at Hankow who attempted to force his way into 
the headquarters of the second division of the Chinese Army 
stationed in the same city and who, when asked by the sentinel 
to leave, seriously wounded the latter by stabbing him with the 
sword, caused no little feeling among Chinese military circles. 

A more serious case took place in September, 1913, in 



15() 

Changli in the Province of Chihli, wherein a contingent of forty 
Japanese troops under one officer attacked the Chinese poHce 
station, in order to arrest the poHceman who had tried to stop 
certain Japanese soldiers from steahng pears from a Chinese 
peddler. The officer stabbed the Chinese police captain and his 
forty men fired three volleys, killing four Chinese policemen. 
The case aroused so much feeling among the Chinese people 
that the Chinese Government felt obliged to take precautionary 
measures to prevent the people from taking the law into their 
own hands. 

In September, 1913, in Changchun in the Province of Kirin, 
a contingent of more than 100 Japanese soldiers proceeded to 
the headquarters of the third and fourth police districts to 
search for and arrest the Chinese policemen on the ground that 
the Chinese police had interfered with a Japanese subject 
attacking a Chinese peddler. 

In August, 1916, a fracas took place between Chinese and 
Japanese troops in Chengchiatun, in Eastern Inner Mongolia, 
in which four Chinese and twelve Japanese soldiers were killed 
and others wounded. This incident was taken by Japan as the 
occasion for presenting to the Chinese Government a series of 
demands, some of which were highly prejudicial to China's 
sovereign rights, and jeopardized for five months the amicable 
relations between China and Japan. 

Again, the stationing of Japanese troops in the interior of 
Shantung Province has given rise to frequent conflicts with the 
Chinese people thereof and caused no little ill-feeling on their 
part. In fact it was their unlawful presence in the Province 
which led to the protest of the Chinese Government, and this 
was, in turn, seized upon by the Japanese Government as the 
occasion for presenting the now celebrated Twenty-one Demands 
in January, 1915, to the detriment of the friendly feelings of 
the two countries. 

In view of the foregoing reasons, the Chinese Government 
earnestly request (1) that all foreign troops now present on 
Chinese territory without legal justification be immediately with- 
drawn ; and (2) that Articles VH and IX of the Protocol of 
September T, 1901, be declared cancelled, and that the Legation 



157 

g'uards and foreii^n troops stationed by virtue of these provisions 
be completely withdrawn within a period of one year from the 
date when a declaration to this effect is made by the Peace 
Conference. 

11. FOREIGX POLICE. 

Since 190.") the Japanese Government have established and 
gradually extended police agencies in Manchuria, notwithstand- 
ing the repeated protests of the Chinese authorities. The num- 
ber of such agencies, as reported in 191 T by the local authorities 
of Fengtien and Kirin Provinces, has reached twenty-seven. 

It will be recalled that while foreign police has been estab- 
lished in certain foreign Settlements and Concessions in China 
under the sanction of treaty or of "land regulations" approved 
by the Chinese Government, no such privilege has been granted 
to any foreign Power in other parts of Chinese territory. The 
establishment of Japanese police agencies in ]^Ianchuria has no 
justification. 

The Japanese Government have sought on several occasions 
to obtain from the Chinese Government the privilege of station- 
ing Japanese police officers in South Manchuria and Eastern 
Inner Mongolia, especially in connection with the Chengchiatun 
ai^air in August, 191 (J. In order to settle this case, they de- 
manded, among other things, that China should "agree to the 
stationing of Japanese police officers in ])laces in South Man- 
churia and Eastern Inner Mongolia where their presence was 
considered necessary for the protection of Japanese subjects": 
and that she should also "agree to the engagement by the offi- 
cials of South Manchuria of Japanese police officers." This de- 
mand was later explained by the Japanese Government on the 
ground that they considered it necessary to station Japanese 
police officers in these regions for the control and protection of 
their own subjects; that a number of Japanese police officers 
had already been stationed in the interior of South Manchuria 
and had been recognized by the local officials of the localities 
concerned, since intercourse had been conducted betw^een them ; 
and that such a privilege was "but a corollary of the right of 
extraterritoriality." 



158 

In reply to this, the Chinese Government stated that as 
there were already treaty provisions concerning- the protection 
and control of Japanese subjects, there was no necessity to 
station Japanese police officers ; that the question of police could 
not be associated with extraterritoriality and they could not rec- 
ognize it as a corollary thereof; that since the conclusion of 
extraterritoriality treaties, no such claim had ever been heard; 
and that in regard to the Japanese police stations already estab- 
lished, they and the local authorities had repeatedly lodged their 
protests, and wished again to protest and ask for their removal. 

The Chinese Government now continue to hold the above 
view as regards the Japanese police agencies in Manchuria and 
desire again to urge their immediate withdrawal, along with the 
foreign troops and military guards now stationed in China with- 
out legal justification. 



WITHDRAWAL OF FOREIGN POST OFFICES 

AND AGENCIES FOR WIRELESS 

AND TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATIONS. 



Foreign Post Offices began to open branches and agencies 
in the principal Treaty Ports of China in the early sixties of last 
century. The opening of these offices was not based on any 
treaty provision or concession. Their existence and gradual 
increase since has merely been tolerated by the Chinese Gov- 
ernment. 

About the same time a regular service for the carriage of 
mails was established on Western lines in connection with the 
Customs, operating chiefly between the numerous ports on the 
coast of China and those far up the Yangtze River. The serv- 
ice continued to work and improve its machinery year by year 
till at last in 1896 it was established by an Imperial Decree as a 
separate Government Department with a full stafif of Commis- 
sioners and subordinates devoting their whole time to the work 
and entirely distinct from the Customs stafif. 

This connection of the Postal Service with the Customs 



159 

continued till 1911 when it was entirely detached and placed 
under the direct control of the Ministry of Communications. 

Though China had been formally invited to join the Uni- 
versal Postal Union as early as 18T8 she hesitated to do so 
until she could feel that her organization was complete for the 
work and it was not till 1911: that the final step was taken. 
Since September of that year the Chinese Postal Department 
has functioned successfully as a member of the Universal Postal 
Union, having been placed in the first class and contributing as 
much towards the general expenses as any other member. 

When the Postal Department was transferred from the Cus- 
toms to the Ministry of Communications in 1911, it had already 
spread its nets widely over the whole of China well into the 
regions of Mongolia as far as Kashgar and the frontiers of 
Russia. In that year the number of offices and agencies that 
had been established amounted to 6201, and in 1917 the number 
had increased to 9103. 

The mail lines over which the service was carried on (in- 
cluding a small percentage in which railway, steamer, and river 
boat facilities were availed of) amounted at the end of 1917 to 
over 520,000 li (equal to, say, 173,000 miles), the aggregate dis- 
tance having increased some 34,000 li since 1914. 

The work done has advanced with equal strides. In 1917 
the articles or pieces of mail matter dealt with amounted to a 
gross total of 965,748,371 pieces, as compared with 692,182,200 
in 1914 and 421,000,000 odd in 1911. 

In addition a parcel post has been established which i^' 
freely availed of. In 1917, 11,465,061 parcels were handled, 
the declared value of which was $136,137,200 and the weight 
39,797,271 kilos, say approximately 40,000 tons. 

A Registration Section has also been established with a 
system of insuring letters and parcels. Parcels are also now 
received on which money has to be collected at the place of 
delivery, that is, parcels with ''trade charges" attached or "cash- 
on-delivery" parcels. 

A Money Order Section which is largely availed of has also 
been in working order for some years. Orders to the number 
of 1,030,000, and of the aggregate value of $21,523,000 were 



160 

issued in 1917. Especially to be noted is the use made of this 
money order service by the British and French Governments as 
the channel for the payment of monthly allotments to families 
of tens of thousands of the labourers who have gone abroad to 
serve in Labour Corps in France and Flanders. The amount 
issued to the British Emigration Bureau of Weihaiwei alone 
totalled over $1,000,000 for the last nine months of 1917. In 
the handling of these money orders, which were sent to over 
25,000 families, mostly residing in remote places in Chihli and 
Shantung, it is a significant fact that not one order was lost in 
transmission. 

In the beginning the service was unavoidably run at a loss, 
but within the last few years the Postal Service has become 
more than self-supporting as the following approximate figures 
for 1917 show:— 

Revenue:— $8,546,000. Expenses:— $7,124,000. 
giving a surplus of $1,422,000 available for improvements and 
developments. 

It is to be noted also that there was very little interruption 
of the Postal Service in China during the Revolution, even in 
the remotest parts of the country. 

To carry on an establishment so extensive as described 
necessarily requires a large staff. At the end of December, 
1917, the Foreign Staff, which had been much reduced owing 
to the war, amounted to over a hundred — Commissioners, Dep- 
uty Commissioners, Assistants and Postal Officers — of various 
friendly nationalities. On the same date the total Chinese staff 
of all ranks amounted to 25,867. It may be added that it is not 
the intention of the Chinese Government to dispense with the 
services of foreigners in their Postal Department as long as 
their assistance is considered necessary or desirable. 

From the foregoing outline of the growth of the Chinese 
Postal Service, from its modest beginnings over fifty years ago, 
it will be seen how the institution has gradually developed to 
its present dimensions, becoming complete in all its branches, 
and discharging its functions with thorough efficiency, and hav- 
ing already for over five years taken its place as a fully equipped 
member of the Universal Postal Union. 



161 

Having thus proved itself fully competent to carry on satis- 
factorily all the functions of a post office, the Chinese Govern- 
ment are of opinion that the time has now come when their 
own postal service should become the sole establishment of the 
kind carrying- on postal work within the limits of the Chinese 
territorv, as is the rule in every other independent country. 
Thev, therefore, giving- the said offices ample time to wind up 
their affairs. sul)mit to the Conference tl\at all foreign pos: 
offices be withdrawn from China on or before January 1st, 
1921. 

Furthermore, in connection with the withdrawal of foreign 
post offices, the Chinese Government must demand that no 
foreign wireless or telegraphic installations of any kind shall 
be set up on Chinese territory and that all such installations as 
may have already been set up on Chinese territory shall be 
handed over forthwith to the Chinese Government upon due 
compensation being given. 



ABOLITION OF THE CONSULAR JURISDICTION. 

It is hardly necessary to dwell on the incompatibility of 
consular jurisdiction with the exercise of the right of territorial 
sovereignty. Suffice it to say that the consular jurisdiction in 
China is not and was not based upon any principle of Interna- 
tional Law, but was merely created by the Treaties. Among 
the treaty stipulations which brought consular jurisdiction into 
existence, we may mention Art. XIII of the Sino-British Treaty 
of 1843, which was abrogated by and substantially incorporated 
into the Sino-British Treaty of Tientsin in Art. XV. XVI and 
XVII (see appendix 1): Art. XXI and XXV of the Sino- 
American Treaty of 1844 (see appendix 2) : and Art. XXV, 
XX\TI and XX\T1I of the Sino-French Treaty of the same 
year (see appendix 3). The reasons assigned to justify the 
introduction of the system into China were the then funda 
mental difference between the Chinese and the foreign laws and 
the imperfection of the Chinese judicial machinery. 

That this system is admittedly a makeshift to be eventually 
abandoned, is clearly shown by the Art. XII of the Sino-British 



162 

Treaty of ld02 which provides: "China having expressed a 
strong desire to reform her judicial system and bring it into 
accord with that of western nations, Great Britain agrees to 
give every assistance to such reforms, and she will also be 
prepared to relinquish her extraterritorial rights when she is 
satisfied that the state of Chinese laws, the arrangements for 
their administration, and other considerations warrant her in 
so doing." Similar provisions are found in Art. X\^ of the 
Sino-American Commercial Treaty of 1903, and in Art. XI of 
the Sino-Japanese Commercial Treaty of the same year. 

The several friendly powers having thus given their formal 
and explicit promise, the primary question to be answered is, 
therefore, whether the state of Chinese laws and the arrange- 
ments for their administration have attained a point to satisfy 
these and other treaty Powers and warrant them in relinquish- 
ing their extraterritorial rights. While we do not claim that 
the Chinese laws and their administration have now reached 
such a state as has been attained by the most advanced nations, 
we do feel confident to assert that China has made very con- 
siderable progress in the administration ot justice and in ali 
matters pertaining thereto since the signing of the above- 
mentioned Commercial Treaties. Let us enumerate a few 
instances : 

1. China has adopted a National Constitution prescribing, 
among others, the separation of governmental powers, assuring 
to the people their inviolable fundamental rights of life and 
property and guaranteeing the complete independence and am- 
ple protection of judicial officers and their entire freedom from 
interference on the part of the executive or legislative powers 
(see appendix 4). 

2. She has prepared five Codes, namely, the Criminal, 
Civil and Commercial Codes, and the two Codes of Procedure 
in civil and criminal cases. Some of them are provisionally in 
force, as the Provisional Criminal Code and some chapters of 
the Codes of Procedure; others are duly promulgated, as the 
Law for the Organization of the Judiciary, the Provisional Regu- 
lations of the High Courts and their Subordinate Courts, the 
Ordinance for Commercial Associations, the Regulations for 



163 

the Court of Arbitration in Commercial Matters, and so on. 
(See appendices ">, (>, 7, 8, and 9.) These (Hfferent codes and 
laws have been carefully adopted from those of the most ad- 
vanced nations and made adaptable to the situations in China. 

o. Three grades of new courts have been established, 
namely : District Courts, High Courts or Courts of Appeal, and 
the Taliyuan or the Supreme Court in lacking. Side by side 
there has been established also the system of procuratorates 
with three corresponding grades (see appendix 10). 

4. Among the improvements in legal proceedings, we may 
mention the complete separation between civil and criminal 
cases, the publicity of all trials and judgments rendered; and in 
criminal cases weight is laid on circumstantial evidence and 
personal testimony, the employment of corporal punishment to 
coerce confessions having long been abolished. The system 
of legal counsel is also in vogue, but no one is allowed to prac- 
tise the profession unless he has passed regular examinations or 
met certain ecjuivalent rec|uirements. 

o. The judicial officers of all the cou.rts, high and low, 
have received regular legal trainings, and a large numl)er of 
them have studied in universities abroad. 

(i. The prison and |)olice systems have been reformed and 
im|)roved, and the success of these reforms is evident to all (see 
appendices 11. 12, 13, 14, IT) and Ki). 

In \'iew of the satisfactory results China has already ob- 
tained and the progress she has been making from day to day 
in the domain of legislative and judicial reforms, the reasons 
for the introduction of consular jurisdiction into China have 
ceased to exist, and the day when the conditions provided in 
the Treaties of 1902-1903 w411 be fulfilled is not far distant. 
Furthermore, the maintenance of this system will aj^pear to be 
still less justifiable, if we look at the serious defects in its 
working : — 

Mrstly, we find defect due to the diversity of laws to be 
applied. The prevailing rule by which the consular jurisdiction 
is determined is that of defendant's nationality : claims against 



164 

Englishmen must be made in English Courts, against French- 
men in French Courts, against Americans in American Courts, 
and so forth. What constitutes an offence or cause of action 
in one consular court may not be treated as such in another. 
It is for this reason that different decisions are given, while 
the facts are exactly the same, and this inequality of treatment 
hurts the sentiment of equity and justice. 

The second defect is the lack of effective control over wit- 
nesses or plaintiffs of another nationality. Where the testi- 
mony of a foreign witness of a nationality different from that 
of the defendant is required, the court is dependent upon his 
voluntary action, and if, after he has voluntarily appeared, he 
should decline to answer questions, he could not be fined or 
committed for contempt of court, nor could he be punished by 
that court if he should commit perjury. So also a foreign 
plaintiff cannot be punished by that court for perjury or con- 
tempt of court. From the same want of control over a foreign 
plaintiff arises another grave flaw in the system of- consula" 
jurisdiction. If the defendant has no defence against the plain- 
tiff but has a counter-claim, the court cannot entertain the 
counter-claim, however obvious the validity of that counter- 
claim may be. 

The third defect is the difficulty of obtaining evidence 
where a foreigner commits a crime in the interior. By the 
treaties, if a foreigner, while travelling in the interior, commits 
any offence against the law, "he shall be handed over to the 
nearest Consul for punishment, but he must not be subjected 
to any ill-usage in excess of necessary restraints." "This, ren- 
dered into plain language," said the American Minister, Mr. 
Reed, "means that the foreigner who commits a rape or murder 
a thousand miles from the sea-board is to be gently restrained, 
and remitted to a Consul for trial, necessarily at a remote point, 
where testimony could hardly be obtained or ruled on." 

The fourth defect lies in the conflict of consular and 
judicial functions. The first duty of a Consul is to look after 
the interests of his nationals. It is, therefore, scarcely con- 
sistent to add to that duty the task of administering justice. 
When a complaint is brought against his nationals, the duty 
of protection of a class and the administration of impartial 



1G5 

justice between that class and others cannot 1)ut clash. Such a 
practice is obviously contrary to the modern principle of the 
separation of administrative and judicial functions. 

Not to mention many other grounds, the inherent defects 
in the working of the artificial system are in themselves suf- 
ficient grounds for its abolition. It has, therefore, manifested 
a marked tendency to disappear everywhere sooner or later. 
It was totally abolished in Japan in 1899 by the treaties con- 
cluded successively with the several Powers as a consequence 
of the codification of the Civil, Commercial and Criminal Laws 
and the promulgation of the Law of Judicial Organization. 
In Siam, the reorganization of local courts brought Great 
Britain, France and other Powers to consent to a partial sur- 
render of the right of jurisdiction to the territorial authorities 
and to a future extension of their competence after the accom- 
plishment of certain determined reforms. 

China, therefore, asks that the system will also disappear 
in China at the ex])iration of a definite period and upon the 
fulfillment of the following conditions : — 

1. The promulgation of a Criminal, a Civil, and a Com- 
mercial Code, a Code of Civil F'rocedure and a Code of Crim- 
inal Procedure. 

2. The establishment of new courts in all the districts 
which once formed the chief districts of the old prefectural 
divisions, that is to say, in fact, in all the localities where for- 
eigners reside. 

China undertakes that by the end of 1924 the above- 
mentioned conditions shall be fulfilled. On the other hand, she 
requests the Treaty Powers to give their promise that upon the 
fulfillment of the conditions they will at once relinquish their 
consular jurisdiction and the jurisdiction of their special courts 
(if they have any) in China. 

Before, however, the actual abolition of consular juris- 
diction, China asks furthermore the Powers to give immediately 
their consent to : 

a. That every mixed case, civil or criminal, where the 
defendant or accused is a Chinese be tried and adjudicated by 
Chinese courts without the presence or interference of any 



166 

consular officer or representative in the procedure or judgment. 

b. That the warrants issued or judgments deHvered by 
Chinese courts may be executed within the concessions or within 
the precincts of any building belonging to a foreigner, without 
preliminary examination by any consular or foreign judicial 
officer. 

In conclusion, it may be added that not China alone will 
be benefited by the abolition of consular jurisdiction. 

From the technical point of view, the Treaty Powers them- 
selves, too, will see in the system of a single jurisdiction the 
disappearance of the inconveniences which reveal themselves in 
controversies among the foreigners of different nationalities — 
inconveniences of the same nature as those which present them- 
selves in cases between the Chinese and foreigners. 

Furthermore, the whole Chinese people will appreciate the 
goodwill of the Powers who give a satisfaction to their ardent 
desire to see the disappearance of all inequalities in judicial 
matters, which exist on the Chinese soil between the nationals 
and foreigners. As a result of the more general application of 
the laws of the country by the national courts, the adminis- 
tration will become more efficient, and the people themselves 
will urge the Government to open the whole country to the 
trade and residence of foreigners. 

The abolition of consular jurisdiction will from that time 
bring about, as a consequence, the development of international 
commerce which will be beneficial both to China and the foreign 
Powers. 



RELINQUISHMENT OF THE LEASED TERRITORIES. 

The existence of leased territories in China, which jeopar- 
dizes the territorial integrity of China, is due, in the original 
instance, to the aggressions of Germany whose forcible occu- 
pation of part of Shantung Province constrained the Chinese 
Government to grant a lease for ninety-nine years of the P>ay 
of Kiaochow in Shantung Province, the finest harbour on the 
coast of China. 

In November, 1897, two German missionaries were mur- 
dered in the interior of Shantung. A German squadron at once 



1()7 

occupied Kiaochovv and demanded reparation. The murderers 
were executed, certain Chinese officials were punished for lax 
conduct, an indemnity was paid, and two expiatory chapels 
erected. Measured by even an exacting standard, the satis- 
faction accorded to Germany appeared ample and definitive. 

But the incident was not allowed to end with China's grant 
of full redress. No sooner had the case been settled than the 
German Minister at Peking. Baron von Heyking, approached 
the Chinese Government with the proposal that Kiaochow Bay 
should be leased to Germany. To give moral support to his 
proposal, a German squadron under the command of the Em- 
peror's brother Prince Henry of Prussia was dispatched to 
Chinese waters, the Prince being enjoined by the Emperor at 
a farewell banquet to be prepared to "strike with his mailed 
fist." In view of the international situation with which she 
was confronted, China was constrained to accept the proposal 
and on March G, 1898, signed a convention setting aside a zone 
of 50 kilometers (33 miles) around the Bay of Kiaochow at 
high water for the passage of German troops therein at any 
time, and agreeing to a lease for ninety-nine years of both 
sides of the entrance to the Bay of Kiaochow including a 
certain number of islands, with the right to construct fortifica- 
tions. In the same convention, Germany obtained the right to 
build certain railways traversing the Province and to prospect 
for and work mines within t^n miles along the railways, as 
well as a preference for German subjects, German materials 
and German capital in case foreign assistance was needed in 
the Province, which is larger than England and Wales. 

Germany having obtained a fortified outpost on the coast 
of China, Russia, invoking the doctrine of balance of power, 
presented to the Chinese Government on the day the Lease 
Convention of Kiaochow was concluded a demand to which a 
time limit was given for a favourable reply that Port Arthur 
and Talienwan and the adjacent waters should be leased to 
her in order that the Russian fleet might have a "secure base," 
and that she should be given, among other things, the right to 
build a railway to be guarded by Russian soldiers traversing 
the Alanchurian Provinces from Port Arthur and Talienwan 
to join the trans-Manchurian Russian railway at Harbin, the 



168 

concession to construct which had been granted to Russia two 
years earher. 

Yielding again to the pressvire Russia was able to bring, 
the Chinese Government consented on March 27, 1898, to lease 
Port Arthur and Talienwan to Russia for a period of twenty 
five years, and at the same time granted her other demands. 

It may be stated that by the Treaty of Portsmouth of Sep- 
tember 5, 1905, which terminated the war between Japan and 
Russia, the latter agreed to transfer to Japan the lease of the 
two ports and adjacent territories and waters together with 
the rights and privileges belonging to the lease "with the con- 
sent of the Government of China." This consent was ac- 
corded by China on December 22, 1905. 

Following the lease of Kiaochow Bay to Germany and that 
of Port Arthur and Talienwan to Russia, France obtained from 
China on April 22, 1898, the lease of Kw^angchouwan on the 
coast of Kwangtung Province for ninety-nine years and Great 
Britain the lease, also for ninety-nine years, of an extension of 
Kowloon and the adjoining territory and waters close to Hong- 
kong on June 9, 1898, and the lease ''for so long a period as 
Port Arthur should remain in the occupation of Russia" of the 
port of Weihaiwei on the coast of Shantung on July 1, 1898. 
Both Great Britain and France based their claims for the leases 
on the ground of the necessity of preserving the balance of 
power in the Far East. 

While the measures and extent of control by the lessee 
Powers over the leased territories vary in the different cases, 
the leases themselves are all limited, as is seen above, to a fixed 
term of years. Expressly or impliedly they are not transferable 
to a third power without the consent of China. Though the 
exercise of administrative rights over the territories leased is 
relinquished by China to the lessee Power, during the period 
of the lease, the sovereignty of China over them is reserved in 
all cases. Moreover, in most of the lease conventions, it is pro- 
vided that Chinese vessels of war should enjoy the equal right 
with the lessee Powers of using the leased ports as naval bases, 
(though in the Lease Convention of Kwangchouwan, this right 
was conditioned on China remaining in the state of neutralitv). 



169 

From the foregoing account it appears clear that the leased 
territories remain part of Chinese territory, though encumbered 
with certain restrictions in regard to the exercise of adminis- 
trative rights therein by the territorial sovereign. They are 
creatures of compact different from cessions in fact and in law. 

These territorial leases do not, therefore, appear to have 
adequate reason for continuance. Not only were they granted 
l)y China under pressure, real or potential, but they were de- 
manded by the Powers in the main avowedly to create balance 
of power, not as between China and another country, but as 
between rival foreign aspirants to power and advantage, at a 
time w^hen the territorial integrity of China under the misrule 
of the Manchu Dynasty appeared to be in imminent grave 
danger. Twenty years have elapsed since then, and conditions 
have entirely altered. With the elimination of German menace 
in particular, an important disturbing factor to the peace of the 
Far East has been removed, while the approaching formation 
of a League of Nations to prevent wars of aggression seems 
to provide an added reason for dispensing with the necessity 
of maintaining a balance of power in the Far East, which was 
the principal ground of their original claims, and therefore a 
new ground for the interested Powers to relinquish their con- 
trol over the territories leased to them. 

The Chinese Government feel, moreover, that the existence 
of these leased territories has greatly prejudiced China's inter- 
ests. Situated, as they all are, at strategic points of the Chinese 
territory, these foreign leaseholds have not only hampered her 
work of national defense and, constituting in China a virtual 
imperium in hnperio, have been a menace to the integrity of 
her territory, but because of the shifting conflict of interests of 
the different lessee Powers, they have involved China more than 
once in complications and controversies of their own, especially 
in the cases of actual hostilities between them. 

Furthermore, some of these territories are utilized, with a 
view to economic domination over the vast adjoining regions, 
as points d'appui for developing spheres of interest, to the detri- 
ment of the principle of equal opportunity for the commerce 
and industries of all nations in China. 



170 ' • 

As the prolongation of the foreign control over the leased 
territories constitutes a continued lordship, whose injurious 
effects tend from day to day to increase, the Chinese Govern- 
ment feel in duty hound to ask for the restitution of these, ter- 
ritories, with the assurance that, in making this proposal, they 
are conscious of, and are prepared to undertake, such obliga- 
tions as the relinquishment of control may equitably entail on 
them as regards the protection of the rights of property-owners 
therein and the administration of the territories thus restored 
to the complete control of China. 



RESTORATION OF FOREIGN CONCESSIONS 
AND SETTLEMENTS. 

The right of foreigners to reside and trade in China was 
definitely provided, for the first time, in the Sino-British Treaty 
of August 29, 1842, the second article of which allowed British 
subjects ''to reside for the purpose of carrying on their mer- 
cantile pursuits, without molestation or restraint at the Cities 
and Towns of Canton, Amoy, Fuchow, Ningpo, and Shanghai." 
To facilitate the enjoyment of this right, the Supplementary 
Treaty of October 8, 1843, provided, in Article 7, that "the 
ground and houses. . . shall be set apart by the local officers in 
communication with the Consul." Accordingly, land was set 
apart in the five ports for the use of British subjects, arrange- 
ments having been made by the local authorities in communi- 
cation with the British Consuls. 

The citizens or su])jects of several other Powers acquired, 
by treaty with China, rights similar to those conferred on 
British subjects, and in some cases similar arrangements were 
made. 

Since 1842 many new ports have been added to the list of 
localities already opened to foreign trade and residence ; and 
in a number of these new places, too, special quarters have 
been designated for the use of foreign citizens or subjects for 
purposes of residence and trade. 



171 

These special areas in the open ports are generally known 
as "Concessions" or "Settlements." As these Concessions were 
granted individually to various treaty Powers, a number of them 
may be found in one and the same port, for examj)le, at Tientsin 
or Hankow. In Shanghai, the British and American Conces- 
sions were amalgamated in IS-Vl into one Concession which is 
now called the International Settlement. The Im-ciicIi Conces- 
sion there still exists as a separate entity. 

These Concessions, which remain Chinese territory and in 
which foreign property-holders are under obligation to pay a 
land tax to the Chinese Government as the Chinese do, are 
governed either by the Consul of the State in whose favour the 
Concession has been granted or by a Municipal Council elected 
by foreign taxpayers residing therein. The Council or the 
Consul, as the case may be. administers the interests of the 
Concession, issues ordinances and regukitions binding on all 
residents for the maintenance of i:)ublic order, levies taxes for 
municipal purposes, erects public buildings, makes roads, and 
maintains a police force. 

Although Chinese citizens constitute the bulk of the popu- 
lation in most of the Concessions and contribute by far the 
largest share of the revenue of these municipalities, they are 
not represented in the ^Municipal Councils, with the exception 
of the Kulangsoo International Settlement, the Municipal Coun- 
cil of which always has a Chinese membei appointed by the 
Chinese local authority. In the Shanghai International Settle- 
ment, Chinese residents, who compose over 95% of its popu- 
lation, are allowed to have only an Advisory Committee of three 
delegates elected annually by the various Chinese commercial 
bodies. 

These Concessions and Settlements are l)usy commercial 
centres in China which have played an important part in the 
development of her foreign trade and which have contributed, 
in no small measure, to the prosperity of the Chinese people. 
r.ut they have at the same time brought into existence certain 
practices and claims on the part of the foreign authorities of 
the Concessions for power and jurisdiction which have at once 



172 

impaired the sovereignty of China and hampered her work of 
administration. 

For one thing, China has been denied her right of 
plenary jurisdiction over her own citizens residing within 
the Concessions. For example, Chinese residents therein 
cannot be ^arrested by Chinese authorities except with the 
approval of the Consul of the State in whose favour the 
Concession has been granted, or, if in the International Set- 
tlement at Shanghai, of the Senior Consul ; and if the par- 
ticular Chinese is in some way connected with a foreign 
firm or family, then the consent of the Consul of the State 
to which such firm or family belongs must also be obtained. 
If in the International Settlement at Shanghai a Chinese 
commits a crime on another Chinese or is sued by another 
Chinese, he, even though the case involves no foreigner or 
foreign interests, must be tried before a Mixed Court, where- 
in a foreign assessor not only watches the proceedings but 
virtually tries and decides the case. If Chinese fugitives from 
justice take shelter within the Concession, they cannot be 
reached by the Chinese authorities, except when the war- 
rants are approved by the foreign authorities of the Con- 
cession. 

Besides, Chinese troops are denied the right of passage 
through these Concessions, though they are part of Chinese 
territory. Thus China's right of eminent domain is not given 
due recognition by the foreign authorities of the Concessions. 

This assertion of exclusive authority and power has 
made each Concession virtually "un petit etat dans 
I'etat," to the impairment of China's rights as a territorial 
sovereign. Such a development was hardly within the con- 
templation or intention of those who helped organize them. 
In his instructions to Sir Frederick Bruce, British Minister 
at Peking, April 8, 186;3, Earl Russell, British Secretary for 
Foreign Afifairs, stated : 

"The lands situated within the limits of the British Set- 
tlement are without doubt Chinese territory, and it cannot 
reasonably be held that the mere fact of a residence within 



173 

those limits exempts Chinese subjects from fulfilling their 
natural obligations," 

Later in the same year, the foreign representatives at 
Peking met in conference and agreed upon certain principles 
upon which the reorganization of the foreign Settlement in 
Shanghai should be, and was until recently, based. These 
are : 

"1. That whatever territorial authority is established 
shall be derived directly from the Imperial Government 
through our Ministers. 

'^2. That such shall not extend beyond simple municipal 
matters, roads, police and taxes for municipal objects. 

"3. That the Chinese not actually in foreign employ 
shall be wholly under the control of Chinese officers, as much 
as in the Chinese City. 

**4. That each Consul shall ha\e the government and 
control of his own peo]:)le. as now : the municipal authority 
simply arresting offenders against the public peace, handing 
them over, and prosecuting them before their respective 
authorities, Chinese and others as the case may be. 

"."). That there shall be a Chinese element in the muni- 
cipal system, to whom re'ference shall be made and assent 
obtained to any measure affecting the Chinese residents." 

The existence of the foreign Concessions has also given 
rise to the ever recurring problem of extensions. As the 
population of the Concessions grows in size and more room 
is needed for expansion, demands are made upon the Chinese 
(Tovernment to grant extensions of territory. In view of the 
claim and actual appropriation of broad ])owers of sovereignty 
by the foreign Consuls or Municipal- Councils on the one 
hand, and of the opposition of the Chinese residents in the 
territory asked for on the other hand, it is not unnatural 
that the Chinese Government should often manifest hesita- 
tion to comply with these applications. Such delay or re- 
fusal, however, is seldom sympathetically viewed and. more 
often than not. it is considered as just cause for making 
acrimonious representations. 



ir4 

Besides tending thus to mar the friendly relations be- 
tween China and the Power making the application, the ques- 
tion of Settlement extensions often gives rise to controversies 
among the foreign Powers. For the application of one 
Power lor extension not infrequently leads another to make 
a similar application, and where the interests of two appli- 
cants conflict, as has occurred in more than one instance, 
the friendly feelings between these Powers are not a little 
afifected. 

It is, moreover, to be noted that while in the more recent 
Concessions the exercise of these powers of municipal gov- 
ernment is provided for in treaties, it was not so authorized 
in the case of the earlier grants of land for foreign trade and 
residence. There it was originally based on certain regula- 
tions known as the Land Regulations agreed upon ])y the 
Chinese authorities and the foreign Consuls. 

In both cases, however, the necessity for the maintenance 
of such independent municipalities seems to have ceased to 
exist. When the country was first opened to foreign inter- 
course, the people were unaccustomed to associate with for- 
eign nationals, and it was therefore deemed expedient to 
assign separate districts for the use of the foreign merchants ; 
and as these districts were undeveloped sections of the 
Chinese cities, it was desirable to organize some system of 
^local government for the maintenance of public order and 
morals within the foreign communities. By such arrange- 
,ment the Chinese authorities were able to prevent friction 
between Chinese and foreign subjects, w^hile the Consuls 
found themselves in a better position to exercise over their 
nationals the protection and control provided by the treaties. 

That whatever necessity there was for separate residence 
has entirely ceased io prevail, appears clear from the fact 
that in such treaty ports as Nanking and Changsha, where no 
foreign Concessions exist, Chinese and foreigners live together 
in peace and friendship. This is true even of the existing 
Concessions themselves, wherein large numbers of Chinese 
and foreigners reside together without friction. 

Besides, China has in recent years made great progress 
in municipal government and believes herself prepared to as- 



175 

sume the responsibilities for effective administration which 
will necessarily be implied in the desired restoration of the 
foreign Concessions and Settlements. Not only the admin- 
istration of such large cities as Peking has been modernized 
and conducted to the satisfaction of Chinese and foreign 
residents alike, but also in the German and Austro-Hungarian 
Concessions at Tientsin and Hankow, of which the Chinese 
Government assumed charge on their Declaration of War on 
these Powers in IDK, no serious criticism has been heard 
of the Chinese administration. 

Xor does the maintenance of these arrangements appear 
now as an essential arrangement for the enjoyment of the 
right to trade. Tn the last two decades, China has steadily 
been pursuing a i)c)licy of encouraging foreign trade and 
commerce. She has not only consented by treaty to add a 
number of places to the list of treaty ports, but she has 
opened on her own initiative many places in the interior to 
foreign trade. In the places voluntarily opened by China 
such as Chinan, for example, foreigners who are required to 
observe the Chinese municipal and police regulations on the 
same footing as Chinese, ha\e found no discouragement in 
that requirement. They are steadily moving into these 
places, which, though only recently opened to foreign trade, 
are rapidly becoming prosperous business centres. 

In view of the foregoing considerations the Chinese Gov- 
ernment entertain a most earnest desire to have all the foreign 
Concessions and Settlements returned to China and rer|uest 
the Government of those Powers which now hold one or more 
Concessions in China, to agree to such restoration. C^hina is 
read)' to enter into negotiations for the purpose, and make such 
arrangements as may be necessary for efifecting the restoration 
and for securing and safeguarding the right of leasing land in 
the treaty ports generally. 

Realizing that there are considerable foreign vested inter- 
ests in the Concessions and Settlements and desiring to avoid 
giving them any cause for concern, the Chinese Government are 
also prepared to consent that such arrangement, when agreed 
to by the interested Powers, shall take effect at the end of five 



176 

years from the date of such agreement. 

Pending the final restoration, the Chinese Government are 
desirous however, to introduce certain modifications in the ex- 
isting regulations of the foreign Concessions, mainly for the 
'purpose of securing a more just treatment for Chinese resi- 
dents therein and of preparing the way for the final restoration 
to China. These modifications, which would in no way afifect 
any of the privileges enjoyed by the citizens or subjects of treaty 
Powers, are : 

1. That Chinese citizens shall have the right to own land 
in all the Concessions and Settlements under the same conditions 
as foreigners ; 

2. That Chinese citizens residing in the Concessions shall 
have the right to vote in the election of members of the munici- 
pal councils and to be elected thereto ; 

3. That warrants issued and judgments delivered by com- 
petent Chinese Courts outside the Concessions shall be executed 
in the Concessions, without being subject to any revision what- 
soever by the foreign authorities; 

4. That in no foreign Concession shall a foreign assessor 
be allowed to take part in the trial or decision of cases wherein 
Chinese citizens alone are concerned. 

TARIFF AUTONOMY. 

The existing tariff arrangement dates back to the Treaty 
of Nanking signed in 1842 with the representatives of Great 
Britain. The duties to be collected upon imported goods were 
fixed in the Supplementary Treaty of 1843, and consisted of 
specific levies calculated mostly on the basis of 5% ad valorem 
of the values then current, but in some cases the duty was as 
high as 10%. This tariff was subsequently adopted by the other 
Powers when they entered into treaty relations with China. In the 
several treaties which China concluded in 1858 with Great Britain, 
France and other countries a revision took place when the rate 
of 5% ad valorem was for the first time universally applied. 
These treaties contained provisions for periodical revision which 
were adopted in all the commercial treaties subsequently con- 



i i 

eluded with other Powers, hut for one reason or another there 
have heen only two revisions since 18r)8. namely, in 1902 and 
in 1018. In hoth cases, however, only the values of goods were 
revised, the uniform .">'/ ad valorem rale remaining unchanged. 

This tariff is not only unfair but also unscientitic in so far 
as articles of prime necessity are charged duties at the same 
rate as articles of luxurx' with results seriously detrimental to 
("hinese finance and trade. The reasons are briefly as follows: 

1. Xo Rccil^rocity. \^\ these treaties and by the most- 
favored-nation clause China has given to all the T^owers a con- 
ventional tariff. i>y the latter clause any one Power is entitled 
to claim whatever rights or i:)rivileges which are granted to 
another Power, but in return China receives no reciprocal treat- 
ment. Thus every treaty Power enjoys the benefit of China's 
.■)'/f tariff, but her goods entering the ports of those countries 
are not entitled to the corresponding benefit. This non-reciproc- 
it\' is contrary to international usage according to which tariff 
concessions are always on a mutual and compensatory basis. 

2. No Differentiation. Since the abandonment of the prin- 
ciple of differentiation in 18.")S, all goods, from luxuries to neces- 
.saries including raw materials, are taxed at exactlv the same 
rate. How far this is at variance with the common practice in 
other countries can be easily seen from the following tables: — 

Jnif^ort Duty on Luxuries Collected By Different Countries 

in U)13- 

Tobacco Sf^irits 

£ s d £ s (1 

England 8-6 per lb. 15- 2 per gallon 

United States 18-9 per lb. & 250^ 10-10 per gallon 

France 1-7-2^1^ per lb. 2- GVii per gallon 

Japan :]557r 10- 2 per gallon 

China -")% 4i/> per gallon 

The figures shown in the above table speak for themselves. 

Owing to the extremely low rate, consequently insufficient 
revenue, many articles which ought to be free of duty are also 

♦The figures of this yeai' are quoted because it was just before the war 
during: which conditions became abnormal. 



1 



taxed for revenue purposes. This can be shown by a com- 
parison of the percentage of vakie of articles imported free of 
duty into China with that of other countries in 1913* 

China 6.5% 

Japan 49.5% 

h>ance 5(1.0 v; 

Ignited States 54.5 '/< 

England 90. T'/ 

Mow far this uniform tariff is unfitted to the present con- 
ditions can be illustrated by the following comparison : 

Value of import in the eorre- 
K umber of articles eniiinerated sponding periods (e.vcludiug 

in the rerised tariffs opium) 

In the year 1S5S..1;)S articles About :>0 million taels 

— 1902.. 332 — — 280 — 

— 1902.. 598 — — 545 — 

Thus it will be seen that during the last sixty years al- 
though the number of articles enumerated increased more than 
four times, and the volume of trade eighteen times, the prin- 
ciple of a uniform ■)% tariff has remained absolutely unchanged. 
In 1858 China consented to such a uniform rate because foreign 
trade w^as then comparatively unimportant, but since then for- 
eign trade has grown considerably. She now finds not only the 
distribution of the burden exceedingly unfair, but her national 
economy is seriously aft'ected by the lack of encouragement of 
the import of raw materials and machinery and b\' the abnormal 
increase in the import of luxuries. 

'^. Insufficiency of Revenue. The treaty tariff* of 5%; ad 
-valorem is obviuusly much lower than that which exists in other 
countries, but even that rate is only nominal, for the periodical 
revision provided for by the treaties has never been carried out 
in due time, and wdien it has bee.n effected, the basis of valua- 
tion adopted is always lower than the actual value at the time : 
for example, in 1902 the average prices of 1897-1899 were 
taken, and in 1918, those of 1912-1916. Thus owing to the 
steady increase in the value of commodities imported, the actual 
duties paid at any given time are always lower than current 



179 

prices would demand. Moreover, the import duty forms 
a very small percentage of the anniTal state revenue. Take for 
instance, in 1914, the total ordinary revenue was 280 million 
taels, while the import duty only yielded 18 millicn taels, thus 
forming less than 7%. The Chinese Government, are, there- 
fore, forced to raise money hy some other means, and many 
taxes, admittedly bad. have to be retained, for example, the 
inland taxation, known as lihiii and similar taxes, which is uni- 
versally condemned both by Chinese and foreigners, but as it 
gives the (jovernment a revenue of fort}' million taels. it has 
to be tolerated. 

The evils of likiii taxation have long been recognised by the 
Powers themselves. Thus in the commercial treaties with Great 
Uritain, the United States and ja])an in 1902-1903. it was 
agreed, infer alia, to increase the tariff from ?'/( to Xiy^'/v, if 
China would abolish likiu, but this could only be effected 
if (/// tlie treaty Powers 'Mia\'e signified their acceptance of 
these engagements." The last c« ndition has made the treaty 
stijuilation practically a dead letter as unanimity among so many 
Towers has been almost im])ossible of attainment. It is clear 
therefore that in the matter of tariff China does not enjoy the 
same right as is granted practically to all nations. 

4. No Real RcvisioJi. It is to observed that the 5% tariff* 
was fixed in 1858, and there has never been any real revision 
of it since, as the so-called revisions in 1902 and in 1918 were 
merely re-estimates of prices which were the bases on which 
the specific duties were calculated and levied. Thus for more 
than half a century China's tariff has undergone no modification 
in the rate of levy. 

To conform to the aim and object of the League of Xations 
it is urgently desired that the right of China to revise the exist- 
ing tariff conventions should be recognized and agreed to by the 
friendly Powers. The Chinese Government regard the Peace 
Conference as a unique opportunity because such revision re- 
quires the consent of all the treaty Powers, which is practically 
impossible to obtain under ordinary conditions. 

What the Chinese Government desire to be agreed to by 
the Conference in principle is that the present tariff should be 



180 

superseded two years henceforth by the general tarifif which is 
appHed to the trade of non-treaty Powers, but in the meantime 
China is wihing to negotiate with the treaty Powers with a 
view to arranging new conventional rates for those articles in 
Avhich they are specially interested, under the following condi- 
tions : — 

1. Any favourable treatment thus arranged must be re- 
ciprocal. 

2. A differential scale must be established so that luxuries 
should pay more and raw materials less than necessaries. 

3. The basis of the new conventional rate for necessaries 
must not be less than 125^% in order to cover the loss of 
revenue resulting from the abolition of likiji as provided for in 
the commercial treaties of 1902-1903. 

4. At the end of a definite period to be fixed by new 
treaties, China must be at liberty not only to revise the basis of 
valuation, but also the duty rate itself. 

In return for such concessions China is willing to abolish 
the undesirable tax of likin so that anything that tends to hinder 
the development of trade may be removed once for all. 

The Chinese Government do not intend to adopt a system 
of protective tariff nor to over-tax trade, but simply demand 
the revision of the present tariff because it is unfair, unscien- 
tific, cut of date and does not meet China's economic needs. 
The prolonged unfavourable balance of trade and the constant 
increase of national debt have created a serious financial and, 
economic stress which can only be relieved by consolidating the 
system of taxation and encouraging the export trade, which will 
in turn benefit the importers by increasing the people's pur- 
chasing power. This reform has long been overdue, and in 
placing China's case before the Peace Conference the Chinese 
Government have behind them the voice of the whole country. 
It is to be hoped that the friendly Powers will restore to China 
the same fiscal right as is enjoyed by all independent nations so 
that the Chinese people may develop their natural resources, 
become better consumers of the world's commodities, and con- 
tribute their share to the progress and civilisation of mankind. 



181 
CONCLUSION. 



In submitting the present memorandum to the Peace Con- 
ference, the Chinese Delegation are not unaware that the ques- 
tions herein dealt with did not primarily arise out of this World 

War a war which has brought sufiferings to mankind to such 

a degree and extent as are unknown in history. They are, how- 
ever, fully conscious of the purpose of the Peace Conference, 
which seeks, in addition to concluding peace with the enemy, 
to establish a new world order upon the foundation of the 
principles of justice, equality and respect for the sovereignty of 
nations. It finds an eloquent expression in the Covenant of the 
League of Xatirms. These questions demand readjustment by 
the Peace Conference because, if left unattended to, they con- 
tain germs of future conflicts capable of disturbing the world's 
peace again. 

The Chinese Delegation, therefore, request that they be 
taken into consideration by the Peace Conference and be dis- 
posed of in the following ways : — 

1. JVith Reference to the Spheres of Influence or Interest, 
that the various interested Powers will, each for itself, make a 
declaration that they do not have or claim any sphere of influ- 
ence or interest in China and that they are prepared to under- 
take a revision of such treaties, agreements, notes or contracts 
previously concluded with her as have conferred, or may be con- 
strued to have conferred, on them, respectively, reserved ter- 
ritorial advantages or preferential rights or privileges to create 
spheres of influence or interest, which impair the sovereign 
rights of China. 

2. With reference to Foreign Troops and Police, that all 
foreign troops and foreign police agencies now present on Chi- 
nese territory without legal justification be immediately with- 
drawn ; that Articles Y\l and TX of the Protocol of September 
7, 1901, be declared cancelled: and that the Legation guards 
and foreign troops stationed by virtue of these provisions be 
completely withdrawn within a period of one year from the 



182 

date when a declaration to this effect is made by the Peace 
Conference. 

3. JVith reference to Foreign Post Offices and Agencies 
for Wireless and Telegraphic Conununications, that all foreign 
post offices be withdrawn from China on or before January 1, 
1921 ; that no foreign wireless or telegraphic installations be 
set up on Chinese territory without the express permission of 
the Chinese Government; and that all such installations as may 
have already been set up on Chinese territory shall be handed 
over forthwith to the Chinese Government upon due compensa- 
ti^n being given. 

4. JVith reference to the Consular Jurisdiction, that upon 
China's fulfillment of her undertaking by the end of 1924, 
firstly, to promulgate the Five Codes and, secondly, to establish 
new courts in all the districts w^hich once formed the chief 
districts of the prefectural divisions, all the treaty Powers 
promise to relinquish their consular jurisdiction and the juris- 
diction of their special courts, if any, in China ; and that before 
the actual abolition of Consular Jurisdiction, the Powers agree : 

a) That every mixed case, civil or criminal, where the 
defendant or accused is a Chinese citizen, be tried and adjudicated 
by Chinese courts without the presence or interference of any con- 
sular officer or representative in the procedure or judgment. 

b) That the w-arrants issued or judgments delivered by Chi- 
nese courts may be executed within the Concessions or within 
the precincts of any building belonging to a foreigner, without 
preliminary examination by any consular or foreign judicial 
officer. 

5. JVith reference to the Leased Territories, that they be 
restored to China upon her undertaking such obligations as the 
relinquishment of control may equitably entail on her as re- 
gards the protection of the rights of property-owners therein 
and the administration of the territories thus restored. 

G. JVith reference to Foreign Concessions and Settlements^ 
that the Powers concerned consent to have the Concessions or 
Settlements held by' them restored to China by the end of 



183 

ly^-l:. China also undertakes the obHgations to safeguard the 
rights of the property-owners therein. Pending the final resto- 
ration certain modifications in the existing regulations of the 
foreign Concessions are desired. 

7. With reference to Tariff Atitotiomy, that it be declared 
that at the end of a definite period to be fixed by mutual agree- 
ment, China is free to regulate, of her own accord, her customs 
tarift", and that during the said period China is free to negotiate 
with the various Powers tariff conventions which shall be recip- 
rocal in treatment, shall differentiate luxuries from necessaries 
and shall have as the basis of the new conventional rate for 
necessaries not less than 123^%. Pending the conclusion of 
such conventions, the present tariff shall be superseded by the 
end of 1921 by the general tariff which is applied to the trade 
of non-treaty Powers. .China on her part promises to abolish 
likiii as soon as new conventions are concluded. 



184 



APPENDICES 



APPENDIX 1. 

(A) Sino-British Treaty of October 8, 1843. 

(General Regulations under zchieh the British Trade is to 
be Conducted at the Five Ports of Canton, Anxoy, Fooclwiv, 
Ningpo, and ShangJiai.) 

Art, XIII. Whenever a British subject has reason to 
complain of a Chinese, he must first proceed to the Consulate 
and state his grievance. The Consul will thereupon inquire 
into the merits of the case, and do his utmost to arrange it 
amicably. In like manner, if a Chinese have reason to complain 
of a British subject, he shall no less listen to his complaint and 
endeavour to settle it in a friendly manner. If an English mer- 
chant have occasion to address the Chinese authorities, he shall 
send such address through the Consul, who will see that the 
language is becoming; and if otherwise, will direct it to be 
changed, or will refuse to convey the address. If unfortun- 
ately any disputes take place of such a nature that the Consul 
cannot arrange them amicably, then he shall request the assist- 
ance of a Chinese Officer that they may together examine into 
the merits of the case, and decide it equitably. Regarding the 
punishment of English criminals, the English Government will 
enact the laws necessary to attain that end, and the Consul will 
be empowered to put them in force ; and regarding the punish- 
ment of Chinese criminals, these will be tried and punished by 
their own laws, in the way provided for by the correspondence 
which took place at X^anking after the concluding of the peace. 

(B) Sino-British Treaty of Tientsin of June 16, 18.S8. 

Article I. (Second paragraph.) The Supplementary 
Treaty and General Regulations of Trade having been amended 
and improved, the substance of their provisions having been in- 
corporated in this Treaty, the said Supplementary Treaty and 
General Regulations of Trade are hereby abrogated. 



185 

Art. XY. All questions in regard to rights, whether of 
property or person, arising between British subjects, shall be 
subject to the jurisdiction of the British authorities. 

Art. XVI. Chinese subjects who may be guilty of an}- 
criminal act towards British subjects shall be arrested and pun- 
ished by the Chinese authorities according to the Laws of China. 

British subjects who may commit any crime in China shall 
be tried and punished by the Consul or other Public Function- 
ary authorized thereto according to the Laws of Great Britain. 

Justice shall be equitably and impartially administered on 
both sides. 

Art. XVIL A British subject having reason to complain 
of a Chinese must proceed to the Consulate and state his griev- 
ance. The Consul will inquire into the merits of the case, and 
do his utmost to arrange it amicably. In like manner, if a 
Chinese have reason to complain of a British subject, the Con- 
sul shall no less listen to his complaint, and endeavor to settle 
it in a friendly manner. If disputes take place of such a nature 
that the Consul cannot arrange them amicably, then he shall 
request the assistance of the Chinese authorities, that they may 
together examine into the merits of the case and decide it 
equitably. 

APPENDIX 2 

Sino- American Treaty of July 3, 1844. 

Art. XXI. Subjects of China who may be guilt}' of any 
criminal act towards citizens of the United States shall be 
arrested and punished by the Chinese authorities according to 
the laws of China, and citizens of the United States who may 
commit any crime in China shall be subject to be tried and 
punished only by the Consul or other public functionary of the 
United States thereto authorized according to the laws of the 
United States ; and in order to the ])revention of all controversy 
and disafifection, justice shall be equitably and impartially ad- 
ministered on both sides. 

Art. XX \'. All cjuestions in regards to rights, whether 
of property or jX'rson, arising between citizens of the L^nited 



18G 

States in China shall be subject to the jurisdiction of and reg- 
ulated by the authorities of their own Government; and all con- 
troversies occurring in China between the citizens of the United 
States and the subjects of any other Government shall be reg- 
ulated by the Treaties existing between the United States and 
such Governments, respectively, without interference on the part 
of China. 

APPENDIX 3. 

Sino-French Treaty of October 24, 1844. 

Art. XXiV. Lorsqu'un citoyen frangais aura quelque sujet 
de plainte ou quelque reclamation a formuler centre un Chinois, 
il devra d'abord exposer ses griefs au Consul, qui, apres avoir 
examine I'affaire, s'efforcera de I'arranger amiablement. De 
meme, quand un Chinois aura a se plaindre d'un Frangais, le 
Consul ecoutera sa reclamation avec interet et cherchera a 
menager un arrangement amiable. Mais si dans I'un ou I'autre 
cas la chose etait impossible, le Consul requerra I'assistance 
du fonctionnaire chinois competent, et tons deux, apres avoir 
examine, conjointement I'affaire, statueront suivant I'equite. 

Art. XXV^IL Si malheureusement, il s'elevait quelque 
rixe ou quelque querelle entre des Frangais et des Chinois, 
comme aussi dans le cas ou, durant le cours d'une semblable 
querelle, un ou plusieurs individus seraient tues ou blesses, 
soit par des coups de feu, soit autrement, les Chinois seront 
arretes par I'Autorite chinoise, qui se chargera de les faire 
examiner et punir s'il y a lieu, conformement aux lois du pays. 
Quant aux Francais, ils seront arretes a la diligence du Consul, 
et celui-ci prendra toutes les mesures necessaires pour que les 
prevenus soient livres a Taction reguliere des lois frangaises, 
dans la forme et suivant les dispositions qui seront ulterieure- 
ment determinees par le Gouvernement frangais. 

II en sera de meme en toute circonstance analogue et non 
prevue dans la presente Convention, le principe etant que, 
pour la repression des crimes et delits commis par eux dans 
les cinq ports, les Francais seront constamment regis par la 
loi francaise. 



187 

Art. XXX'Tll. Les Frangais qui se trouveront dans I'liii 
des ciiKi'ports (lei)endront eoalenient, pour toutes les difficul- 
tes on les contestations (|ni ponrraient s'elever entre eux. de 
la inridiction francaise. 1mi cas de differends snrvenus entre 
l^rancais et etran-ers. il est bien stipule que I'Autonte chuioise 
n'aura a s'en meler en aucune maniere. Elle n'aura pareiUe- 
ment a exercer aucune action sur les navires marchands fraii- 
cais; ceux-ci ne releveront que de I'Autorite franqaise et du 
cai)itaine. 

APPENDIX 4. 

The Provisional Constitution of the Repuhlie of China, 

March, 1912. 

Art. \^I. Citizens shall enjoy the following: rights :— 

1. Xo citizen shall be arrested, imprisoned, tried or pun- 
ished except in accordance with Law. 

2. The habitation of any citizen shall not be entered or 
searched except in accordance with Law. 

3. Citizens shall enjoy the right of the security of their 
property and the freedom of trade. 

4. Citizens shall have the freedom of speech, of publica- 
tion and of association. 

r,. Citizens shall have the ri-ht cf the secrecy of their 
letters. 

f) Citizens .shall have the lil)erty of residence and re- 



moval. 



Citizens shall have the freedom of religion. 



Art. XLVni. The Judiciary shall be composed of judges 
appointed by the President and the Minister of Justice. 

The organisation of the courts and the qualifications of 
judges shall be determined by law. 

Art. XLIX. The Judiciary shall try civil and criminal 
cases but cases involving administrative affairs or arising 
from 'other particular causes, shall be dealt with according to 
special laws. 



188 

Art. L. The trial of cases in law courts shall be conducted 
publicly, Init those affecting- public safety and order may be 
held in camera. 

Art. LI. Judges shall be independent and shall not be 
subject to the interference of higher officials. 

Art. LII. Judges during their continuance in office shall 
not have their emoluments decreased and shall not be trans- 
ferred to other offices, nor shall they be removed from office 
except v^'hen they are convicted of crimes, or of offences 
l)unishable according to law by removal from office. 

APPENDICES 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are in the form of separate 
annexes. 

APPENDIX 10. 
(A) List of Modern Courts Already Established. 

I. The Tali yuan, or the Supreme Court, in Peking. 

II. (a) Hi^^h Courts or Courts of Appeat. They are 
twenty-two in all, and are established in Peking and the various 
I'rovincial Capitals, namely : — 

Tientsin, Mukden, Kirin, Heilungkiang, Chinan, Kaifeng, 
Taiyuan, Anking, Nanking, Nanchang, Foochow, Hangchow, 
Wuchang, Changsha, Changan, Lanchow, Chengtu, Canton, 
Kweiling, Yunnan and Kweiyang. 

(b) BraneJi Courts of Appeal. They are eighteen in all, 
and are established in the chief towns of some provinces which 
are at a great distance from the provincial capitals, namely : — 

Loyang, Juning (in the province of Honan). 
Anyi, Tatung (in the province of Shansi). 
Chinkiang (in the province of Kiangsu). 
Fengyang (in the province of Anhui). 
Kanghsien (in the province of Kiangsi). 
Wenchow, Kinghua (in the province of Chekiang). 
Hsiangyang, Ichang (in the province of Hupeh). 
Nancheng (in the province of Shensi). 
Pingliang (in the province of Kansu). 



189 

Chun^^kinsJ-, Yachow. Luchow, Langchnnj^- fin the prov- 
ince of Szechnan). 

Chenynan, Picliieh (in the province ot Kweichow). 

111. District Courts. They are forty-six in all, and are 
established in important cities and towns as well as in the Cap- 
ital and the Provincial Capitals, namely : — 

Peking. 

Tientsin, Paotin"- (in the province of Chihli). 

Alukden. Yingkou, Antung, Liaoyang, Kingchow, Tieh- 
ling, Taonan, Hailung, Liaoyuan (in the province of Fengtien). 

Kirin, Changchun, Yenki (in the province of Kirin). 

Heilungkiang (in the province of Heilungkiang). 

Chinan, Fusan (in the province of Shantung). 

Kaifeng (in the province of Honan). 

Taiyuan (in the province of Shansi). 

Nanking, Shanghai (in the province of Kiangsu). 

Anking, \\\ihu (in the province of Anhui). 

Xanchang, Kiukiang (in the province of Kiangsi). 

Foochow, Amoy (in the province of Fukien). 

Hangchow, Ningpo, Wenchow, Kinghua (in the province 
of Chekiang). 

Wuchang, Hankow (in the* province of Hupeh). 

Changsha, Changteh (in the province of Hunan). 

Changan (in the province of Shensi). 

Lanchow (in the province of Kansu). 

Chengtu, Chunking (in the province of Szechnan). 

Canton, Chenhai (in the province of Kwangtung). 

Kweiling (in the province of Kw^angsi). 

Yunnan, Mengtse (in the province of Yunnan). 

Kweiyang (in the province of Kweichow). 

Many others have been projected and will be established 
within five years. 

(B) Modern Procuratorates Already Established. 

To avoid unnecessary repetition, it may be stated that side 
by side with each modern court, there is a procuratorate of the 
corresponding grade. Thus, we have the Chief Procuratorate 



190 

in Peking, a High Prociiraforate in each of the Provincial 
Capitals, and a District Prociiraforate in every city or Provincial 
Capital where a District Court has been established. 

Many others have been projected and will be established 
within five vears. 



APPENDIX 11.- 

List of Modern Prisons Already Established. 

They are forty-one in all and distributed in the following 
cities : — 

Two in Peking. 

Two in the province of Chihli, namely : Tientsin and 
Paoting. 

Six in the province of Fengtien, namely : Mukden, Y.ing- 
kou, Liaoyang, Tiehling, Changtu and Sinming. 

Two in the province of Kirin, namely : Kirin and Chang- 
chun. 

One in the province of Heilungkiang, namely : Heilung- 
kiang. 

Two in the province of Shantung, namely : Chinan and 
Chefoo. • 

One in the province of Honan, namely : Kaifeng. 

Three in the province of Shansi, namely : Taiyuan, Ho- 
tung and Taiku. 

Three in the province of Kiangsu, namely : Nanking, 
Shanghai and Soochow. 

One in the province of Anhui, namely : Anking. 

One in the province of Kiangsi, namely : Nanchang. 

One in the province of Fukien, namely : Foochow. 

One in the province of Chekiang, namely : Hanchow. 

Two in the province of Hupeh, namely : A\^uchang and 
Ichang. 

One in the province of Hunan, namely : Changsha. 

Two in the province of Shensi, namely : Changan and 
Nancheng. 

One in the province of Kansu, namely : Lanchow. 

One in the province of Szechuan, namely : Chengtu. 



I'.ll 

( )nc in the province of Kwantunj^', namely : C "anion. 

One in the province of Kwangsi, namely : Kweilin*;'. 

One in the province of Yunnan, namely : Yunnan. 

One in the province of Kweichow, namely: Kweiyani;'. 

Two in the Special district of Kiangchao. 

One in the Special district of Jehol : namely, Chengteh. 

On in the Special district of Suiyuan, namely : Suiyuan. 

Many others have been |)rujected and will be established 
within five vears. 



,\nM':.\UlL"ES 1-^, i;;, U, !:> -dml K.' arc in the form of 
-se.tai'ate annexes. 



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